


Resurrection in Red

by LegacyWorks



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Allen acts as a clown, Allen hates exorcists, Allen joins Tyki and the gang, Allen turns into Red, Amnesia, BAMF Allen Walker, Friends to family, Gen, I tried my best with the slang, Jokes about dark stuff, That's who he used to be before Mana came, also Lavi's a dick, and sorta british, friendships, like he's a dick, not sure if it worked, poker pair, red!allen, rude Allen Walker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2018-10-20 17:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10667799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegacyWorks/pseuds/LegacyWorks
Summary: Injury has always been part of the job, and many exorcist die in the line of duty. Loss of the mind and of the heart is also common, but for most people their memory remains. Allen lost this important part of himself. People want to help, but Allen rejects contact from a 'cult'. He's not the boy they once knew.





	1. Messing with minds

**Author's Note:**

> So I have this one up on FanFiction as well... so some of you might have read it. Sorry!

"Allen!" Lavi screamed. He had just freed himself from the effects of one mental-focused akuma. The weapon had pulled both Allen and Lavi into it's own mind field and forced them to go through multiple trials in order to escape.

Lavi managed to get out fairly quickly, using his training as a bookman help to organize his own thoughts and take control of the landscape from inside of the akuma. Allen, however, had no such practice or former experience. The albino was still on his knees, innocence lying limp on the ground. The akuma was laughing while still staying a ways back. It seemed as though it wasn't very good with close combat, opting to use it's mind attack for the majority of the fight.

The two exorcist had already defeated all the level ones that were accompanying this level two, so there wasn't danger from being attacked by a stray akuma. All that was left was the annoying one that worked to break Lavi and Allen's minds. Lavi rushed in to attack the thing, hammer flying ahead of him and growing in size. The akuma flew out of the way, not expecting Lavi to be able to move something of that size with such ease.

It also didn't predict the fire that shot out of the end. A scream erupted from it's stretched mouth, and Lavi cringed at the noise. The thing was still alive, and the soul had to be screaming. While he held little sympathy for the weapons, Allen did grow on him just a little bit and infected his thoughts with the idea that these corrupted souls might still have feelings of sorrow and loss; even pain. Lavi held little regard for humans - he was never really able to relate to them, which was part of the reason he became a bookman in the first place - but the pain that had to feel did reach him.

Allen was still his main priority.

The akuma still wasn't down, which was surprising considering it was only a level two and, while they aren't easy to destroy, it still doesn't take that much. Lavi just swung his hammer once for a final knock down, sending the akuma flying into a wall and falling to the ground once more. Lavi expected something to happen and free Allen from his mental prison, but nothing seemed to change. Allen was still slumped over on the ground, his white arm not even twitching.

A laughter filled Lavi's skull, vibrating his ears and momentarily tuning out anything around him. When he looked up, there was the akuma; it's hand was pointing towards Allen, and there was a wicked grin covering it's face. One more bout of laughter later, the akuma crumbled into dust. Lavi ran over to his fellow exorcist, checking his pulse and forehead for anything that might tell of his condition.

There was no response from the prone body. He had fallen from his knees, now on his side with dirt covering the black fabric. Lavi scrabbled to turn the boy's body over, so his back rested on the ground instead. His eyes were closed and his face scrunched up with a sour look. There wasn't any pain evident in his expression, but Allen was fairly good at hiding his discomfort even while unconscious. How he was able to do that, Lavi would never know. It didn't seem to be a good thing for after a battle. No one would know he was injured, though that was most likely the point.

"Hey, Allen, wake up. The battles over. C'mon, man, don't make me carry you all the way to base." Lavi said absentmindedly while checking over Allen's vitals. Heart rate steady, possibly slow considering what his mind endured. No fever showing, skin didn't have any extra amount of pale showing through tan skin. Timcampy was flying around before settling on Allen's chest.

Allen's curse mark didn't show anything irregular, so he wasn't close to death and it wasn't going through some sort of transformation. Lavi pulled up the eyelid to check both pupils. It seemed he was merely unconscious.

"Allen, if you don't wake up, I'll draw on your face." Lavi threatened, not entirely expecting any sort of change. He hadn't gotten around to coloring Allen's face since they've know each other, but then again he'd only met the kid a couple days ago, and Allen had only come to the Order a week or two ago.

Allen quietly made a sound, and Lavi leaned in closer. "Re...h" was all Lavi could hear from the breathy exhale of a word. He pursed his lips, hoping there was more but doubting there would be. He stayed crouched over Allen, ear millimeters away from Allen's lips. There was nothing else for his to hear, and Allen was far too quiet for Lavi to pick up anything else that could have been said.

Groaning and standing up, Lavi informed the golem and, therefore, the order that he and Allen were headed back. He briefly warned Komui that something might be wrong with Allen, also saying it could just be a false alarm. He hoisted the albino up over his shoulder. There weren't any physical injuries that could be affected by the semi-rough treatment, but he still moved as gently as possible just in case.

All that was left was to travel by train back to the order, then walk up a giant incline in order to get to the actual base. With that, people would be staring the entire time since carrying a person over one's shoulder like a sack of potatoes is not exactly normal.

Great.


	2. Red is Released

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one knows what happened to Allen, and Kanda gets pissed at them all.

Chaos had erupted when Lavi came in, carrying an unresponsive Allen, a panicked expression on his face. After a brief moment of silence, Leever began ordering people around, sending some to get a stretcher, one to grab the head nurse, and another to inform Kamui the two had returned, though Allen seemed to be in bad shape. All the while, he had to calm the onlookers, most of whom had befriended the lovable white haired boy. The one who seemed the most in panic was Johnny, the person closest to Allen besides his fellow exorcists who were not present at the current moment.

It took four minutes, but the stretcher finally arrived and relieved Lavi from the weight known as Allen, and Leever was able to look closer at Allen's wounds. They didn't seem much worse than normal, the only exception being what looked like a stab wound in his side.

"What happened?" He asked himself, though Lavi heard and answered.

"I'm not certain, but it seems like one of the akuma we were facing had the power to enter a person's memories and 'play' with them. It tried to with me, but it wasn't too much of a problem and I was able to escape fairly quickly. Allen doesn't have any of my experience, though, so he got caught in the akuma's mind games. When I got out of the game, I took out the akuma and went to see what was wrong with Allen. He hadn't been moving since the akuma used it's ability, but there wasn't anything wrong with his body from what I found. Temperature, heart rate, pupil dilation; everything was fine." Lavi was slightly panicked while giving the report, and seemed to hope Leever knew the answer to all of his problems. All Leever could do was cast a glance before searching the crowd for the head nurse.

Spotting her graying hair in the crowed, he ordered everyone to make a path for her. After a glance, she commanded them to bring him to one of the back rooms, the one used only for those who would have to stay for a while. Two finders carried the unconscious man on the stretcher, followed closely behind by Lavi and Johnny.

Rumors spread after the spectacle. Allen was dead, he was killed by some level 5 akuma and everyone was hiding it. Lavi was actually the one who attacked Allen, sending him into a coma. They were caught by the Earl and tortured before Lavi was able to get them to escape.

No one knew what was true and what was false. Nothing had been announced, even to the exorcist and science division who knew the boy the best. Lavi was not allowed to tell anyone what happened, and those who had heard didn't tell others through orders of Kamui.

It seemed everyone forgot he came back without injury, only withdrawn into his mind.

When, after two weeks had passed and tensions were high, Kanda returned from a mission, just as frustrated as he normally was, and everyone was ready to fight. Kanda was being his normal self, ignoring everyone and letting out an irritated aura and pushing everyone out of his way. The people who would normally let this go growled at him, and one even tried to attack before backing away at the sight of Mugen. After this encounter, Kanda went in search of Lavi and Lenalee, deciding to force information about whoever he saw first.

As luck would have it, he found Reever and decided that man was good enough, even if he wasn't allowed to cut him.

"Hey," He said, calling across the room. "What's going on here?" Reever looked up, surprised to see Kanda questioning him.

"Nothing. Why?" He asked, genuinely confused. He took a brief glance around the room. It was in unnatural order, with only the normal papers covering the desk and floor, and a couple of experiments exploding in the north corner. There wasn't even someone growing bunny ears, or abnormally long hair. And absolutely no one had turned into an inanimate object in the past week. They really were having an abnormally calm week. That was the only thing Leever could think of, but he knew Kanda wouldn't care about that.

"Everyone's tense." He said, expecting an answer immediately after his statement. He began getting visually pissed when Reever only looked more confused than before.

"Really? Haven't we always been this way?" Kanda growled and walked away, leaving Reever to think about what he was talking about. It took a few minutes, but Reever finally got it, long after Kanda was gone. He debated going to find the irritable samurai before he cut off any limbs unlucky enough to make him blow his top, but eventually decided it would be alright. Someone would figure out what the boy wanted.

Johnny was his next victim.

The boy was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he knew it when he was pressed into the wall feet away from him, a hand on his chest to hold him back. Kanda waited for the poor boy's head to stop spinning before questioning him. Johnny immediately got what he was wondering about and burst into tears. Kanda, not expecting such a reaction, released him and stepped a foot back.

"A-A-Allen!" Johnny wailed, and the people around him covered their ears and continued walking, already used to what was going on after two weeks of having to deal with this same thing. Someone from the science division, someone who Kanda never bothered to learn the name of, just sighed.

"You had to get him started, didn't you." Kanda was too confused to react to the man's words, and the man scurried away when he realized who he was talking to before Kanda's mind could catch up.

"Did that dang moyashi got and get himself killed?" Kanda asked himself, too quiet for Johnny to hear, but enough for one of the finders who was scurrying past to catch the name moyashi, and guessed who Kanda was talking about.

"Kanda-san," He started. Kanda's attention drew to him after a moment's hesitation, as though trying to figure out if it was worth talking with the man or not. "You ha-ha-haven't been here for the past three w-weeks, cor-r-r-rect?" Kanda nodded, skeptical of why the man would chose to give him information without being prompted. "Well, Walker-san has been se-se-ent to the infirmary, and no o-one knows if he is alive o-or not. This wa-was two weeks ago. We haven't been gi-i-iven any information about his condition, and Johnny-san has been un-un-unde-understandably upset. Please don't ma-a-ake him cry any more." The first information to compute in Kanda's mine was that someone who wasn't an exorcist was talking with him willingly. The second was that the man was scurrying on his way, so Kanda couldn't question to clarify what he was saying.

The third was that no one knew what was going on with Allen.

Finally understanding the tense atmosphere, Kanda relaxed a tad and continued on with his day. First to the canteen to grab some well deserved food, then on to bed.

The next morning he went to the dojo, just as he always would do in the mornings, ready to meditate.

Only, Lenalee had beaten him to it. She was sitting in her usual spot that she would go to when quiet was all that she needed. And Kanda would normally be fine with that, if only there wasn't someone sitting in his spot.

Especially if that someone wasn't an eye-patch wearing, red haired, annoying bunny.

It took an entire fourth of a second, but soon enough Kanda had mugen out and against the side of Lavi's throat, pressing just enough to express his irritation.

"Yield! I yield!" Lavi shouted, slowly standing up and moving away from the sword, pressing the tip away from his neck as he did so. "Lenalee, tell Yuu not to kill me!" Once again the sword was up against his neck and Lavi scampered to get away. Kanda sat down in his spot, not caring enough about the red hair's actions to continue his chase.

Kanda expected Lavi to keep taking, but never would have have expected that Lenalee would be the one to question him. She knew the rules about being in the dojo while he's meditating. "Did you hear about Allen yet?" Kanda didn't reply, hoping she would leave him alone when she got the message. And she did, but Lavi picked up where she left off.

"Yuu~ did you hear? Allen's in the infirmary. Some akuma messed with his head, and now they won't let us know anything." Something felt off to Kanda, like Lavi was hiding crucial information about Allen. He opened his eyes enough for Lavi to see he was listening. Standing up, he motioned to the door. Lavi followed, leaving Lenalee confused over what just happened.

"What is it?" Lavi asked, just before Kanda shoved him against a wall. Momentarily shocked, Lavi responded on impulse. "What'd ya do that for? 'Cause I'm sorry for being loud while you meditate, if that's it." Kanda tisked.

"What are you hiding." Kanda glared, and Lavi's expression lost all life. There wasn't a good enough reason to keep up his act. "What's happened to the moyashi?"

Lavi looked around, searching for anyone who might overhear. He was only too glad to get this information to someone besides himself.

"His memory's missing. The kid doesn't even remember who Cross is, and is just shouting at everyone who walks into his room. When someone asks about his father, what's his face Walker, he spits on the person's clothes and scowls. No one knows what's going on or why he's acting like this. There's even a chance of an alternate personality being placed inside of him. Only Bookman, head nurse, Komui and I are allowed to see him. It seems he doesn't trust people that much, but I've been able to sit in the same room without him trying to take off my head, which is more than the others can say. Well, the head nurse scares him into submission, but he still glares at her. But you can't tell Lenalee. Branch Chief doesn't want her to panic more than she already is." Kanda grunted and walked back into the dojo, releasing Lavi from his grip. Lavi let out a sigh and walked back to the main building. It was time to go visit a certain white haired, bad tempered little boy.

"Why can't you idiots just leave me alone! I'm fine! I've lived on the streets all my life, and nothing bad's happened yet! You had no right to drag me into this dump and lock me up! None! Fuckin' bastards…" Was the first think Lavi heard as he walked into Allen's own personal section of the hospital. Bookman walked out of the door seconds later, letting out a sigh. He glanced up at Lavi.

"Deal with him." Lavi blinked as Bookman walked off.

Cautiously rounding the corner, Lavi entered the room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, only Allen was turned, back towards the door.

"... Hey, Allen." He said, not fully sure whether or not the boy would respond.

"Hey, bastard. Why are you here?" He mumbled to the wall. Lavi stepped forwards into the room, moving sideways just a little bit, wanting to know why Allen was facing away from him. The boy normally had the common courtesy to point his body in the direction of the speaker, even if he refused to look directly at them. The front of Allen's shirt was ripped open, though the buttons were still in place. They had put Allen in a dress shirt and black pants, since that's the comfiest clothing they had in the hospital wing, and Komui was too cheap to go out and look for something more suitable. The left sleeve was completely missing, showing Allen's red arm for the world/room to see, and large sections of his chest were showing through.

"You bastards put me in such shitty clothing. How am I supposed to get out of this thing? Can't fucking figure it out." Allen continued mumbling to himself as Lavi undid the buttons, though he didn't know why he bothered. Just a couple more tares and the thing would fall off. It would take less effort than unbuttoning.

A glance at Allen's face told him the boy was fascinated with this new method of closing shirts, and Lavi was wondering yet again what had happened to the boy's mind.

"Hey, Allen, what do you remember?" Allen looked at the young Bookman like he was insane.

"Everything. Don't be an idiot. It's you bastards who are keeping me locked up. I'm not certain, but I think experimenting on people without their consent is illegal, and I definitely haven't said yes, so get me out of this room!" Allen glared once more before shifting in his bed and lying down, hiding under the blankets.

"Just tell me. You said you didn't remember your father. Who do you remember?" Allen peaked out from under his covers, his eyes lost in memory.

"I remember a dog. And there was his owner. The dog died. He was really old. But the man didn't cry. I cried, but that stupid fuck didn't. Other than that, my life was even shittier than some pampered boy could believe. Someone like you probably hasn't seen a man drown his twin daughter and son, or a woman hanging herself because some lord told her to, and threatened her family to make sure she would. You probably haven't even seen someone get raped in front of you, and dying after it was over, bleeding from all of the wounds inflicted by the men." Allen's eyes were dark, dead, and unfitting in the normally cheerful Allen's image.

"And what if I have?" Lavi may not have seen any of this happen, but he had read about it over and over, spanning across the ages and within most every commoner life book or journal he had seen.

Allen searched within Lavi's eyes, looking deeper than Lavi though possible for the boy. And his eyes narrowed when he found what he was searching for. "It's not smart to lie to a street rat. We know how to read people better than anyone. It's like our living. You know of it, but you've never experienced it up close, have you." Lavi stayed silent after than, and considered leaving after an hour of no sound. Until a thought came into his mind. At the beginning, Allen didn't know what his name was, and would get upset with people for calling him that. There would be times when he forgot to respond to his name altogether.

"Hey, what's your name? Your actual name?" He asked. Allen looked at him skeptically. After deciding it wouldn't be too harmful to give such a useless piece of information, he spoke.

"Don't got one."

"What should I call you, than?"

"You can stick with Allen. It doesn't bother me anymore."

"What did people call you on the streets."

Allen quieted once more. His response was a mere whisper. "Red."

"Red? Why would they call you Red? Unless you went off and killed people." Allen was shocked with Lavi's assumption.

"Kill? How could I kill people? I don't have that kind of strength, so no. It's because of my hair. 'Cause it's redish-brown, people who were chasing me would see the redish hair and shout out 'there's Red!' so that became my name. It's the only thing people called me that wasn't an insult."

"What are you talking about? Your hair isn't red." Lavi pointed out, and Allen nearly fell off the bed.

"What?! Get me a mirror! Now!" He shouted. Lavi blinked at the sudden energy in the boy, and helped search after a couple moments of stillness. When Allen left the room, Lavi followed, panicking when he couldn't see the boy anymore. He relaxed when he heard a surprised yelp just a couple rooms away, and followed the sound. Allen was standing inside of one of the bathrooms, staring at his appearance, shocked.

"What… the… hell?" He was stroking at his hair, trying to wipe off anything that could have been covering his natural color. Discovering nothing was changing, he moved to his scar/curse mark. Finally, he stood back and looked at his entire body. "I'm so… old. What the fuck happened? I was, like seven! Now I'm eighty!" He rounded, turning to Lavi. "What did you fuckers do to me?! I'm not supposed to be an old man! Why did this fucking happen?!" Realizing he was crying, Allen covered his face with an arm to hide his tears. "Damn it!"


	3. Information Spreads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red is introduced to Allen's friends, insults occur, Kanda is annoyed.

"We can't let him out like this. I thought it was already decided!" Komui shouted, though trying to stay quiet. Allen was sleeping at the other side of the door, finally getting to sleep after his freakout. Lavi and Bookman stood with him, the three discussing what should happen next.

"We can't just leave him here forever." Lavi interveined. He was the one to start up this discussion, worried about how people would start acting after such a long time with the tension filling the air. He could already see it - someone already shouted at Kanda , something taboo for anyone but Allen. Too many people were worrying too much, and it was all because Allen was missing.

It wasn't long before Kanda would snap as well. Though he would never admit it, Allen was his beloved bickering partner, and the only one with the guts plus skill to go up against him.

"But my poor Lenalee will be heartbroken to see Allen like this!"

"She's already heartbroken not knowing what happened! Even you couldn't think this is perfectly fine! And don't you even think of making a fake Allen. There's no way it will fool anyone." Komui had gotten his mad scientist look in his eye, and Lavi knew what he was planning from the second this conversation had started. "Damn it. Panda! Deal with him! Allen should be waking up any second now." Lavi hastily left the room, knowing if he stayed there any longer he would surely explode at the reckless scientist. The lack of information everyone else was suffering was something like what was going on with Lavi, only this time he knew more than was healthy for his heart.

Worry was something he wasn't used to dealing with. Long ago, he had learned how to kill his emotions so it wouldn't affect his work. But this thing with Allen was getting to him. This could be thought of as his fault. He hadn't thought about what would happen if he just killed the akuma messing with Allen's mind. He hadn't thought about the damage that would be left. If he only remembered to use his head, it could have been avoided, and that kid wouldn't be laying away from his friends without memories that he gained through his lifetime.

To Lavi, that was a fate worse than death.

Knowledge was what ran the world. Without that they were nothing more than filthy creatures, worse than any other. Creatures that depend on war and wreckage to survive and live their miserable lives. And that was what Lavi brought to Allen. Not that Allen was that bad as of yet, but who knew what the future held. Lavi only knew about the past and the present.

Allen was in the room he'd been kept in, on the ground after falling out of bed. The past two weeks clearly showed how restless of a sleeper Allen was, also showing how light his sleep had been. It took a while for Lavi to understand the signs to show whether or not Allen was awake, but there was a subtle difference that only a Bookman would note. He moved more when sleeping.

Allen was currently completely still.

"Mornin'!" Lavi shouted, cheerful as always. Allen groaned in response and hid under the covers. "We should get you some proper clothes soon. The Panda's debating with Komui to try and let you out of the hospital. Hopefully you'll be able to regain some of your memories after seeing everyone!" Allen looked at him with a completely blank look after sticking his head out from under the sheets.

"Bugger off. I don't got missing memories! You fucktards turned my hair white, yeah? 'Cause I thought 'bout it, and I ain't bloody old! Ol' people die before the hair turns white, or they bloody lucky. I don't got that luck, ya know."

"We didn't do anything to your hair. By the time you came to the Order, it was already like that."

"I don't know what this damn Order is! Sounds like some idiotic bunch o' hoodies."

"You might not remember it, but you were part of that group of 'hoodies'. You were a polite boy who cared about his friends and did his best to keep 'walking forward,' no matter what happened."

"I don't get what ya' rambling about. I don't got friends, and I don't care 'bout me or the other wankstain (idiots) in this world." Allen grumbled, not noticing the determination within Lavi's eyes.

"Allen Walker. Age 15. Exorcist of the European Branch of the Black Order. Apprentice to Cross Marian. Companion of golem Timcanpy. Known friends, Lavi, Kanda Yuu, Lenalee Lee, Johnny Gill. Parasite type Innocence within his left arm. Would you like me to go on? This is you before the Akuma messed with your head causing your memories to disappear. Now, I'm going to try and get you fixed up by bringing you around the rest of the base and see if that triggers any memories. If it doesn't, you are allowed to come back here. Now, get on these clothes." Lavi had magically pulled out a white, long sleeve shirt and a pair of tan trousers.

Allen, protesting, sat on the ground and glared, not budging.

Just then, a knock on the door alerted the both of them to someone entering - more than likely Komui to either accept or reject Lavi's proposal.

"You have two hours." The mad scientist announced before leaving again, clearly not happy with the decision. Lavi smirked and lifted Allen up by his armpits. It wasn't hard, since Allen had been refusing to eat for the past two weeks, completely convinced they were going to poison him. The three of them were surprised the kid was able to move around, since his normal meal was eating three times his body weight.

Holding Allen up with one hand, Lavi put the other to work getting the shirt onto the young boy, setting the boy down when he started to help out instead of struggling to get down.

Allen was still sloppily dressed when they left the room, but he did have all of his clothes on and was only resisting Lavi's grip on his arm a little bit - the grip in place due to Allen trying to jump out the window after he was dressed.

It was a fairly short walk to the main area. The silence was filled with Lavi's mindless chatter about who was who, and what each person was like. Allen seemed more interested in the terrain. A barren, mountain like area, from what he could tell. Of course, he only knew that because of picture books he had stolen when he was younger - the area he lived in was a lifeless shithole, and anything that could distract him was welcome. It was a bonus when the distraction was colorful and he understood what it meant. Books with words were absolutely ineffective entertainment.

There was one thing that was bothering him, a problem at the same level as his white hair. It was a problem on the same insane level as his hair being white.

He couldn't hold a frown, or a grimace, or anything like that. It felt like all of his face muscles had died long ago and were only starting to regenerate. This was an extremely weird feeling for the boy after scowling his entire life. A soft expressions on a person's face was a sign of weakness, and those who smiled were easy prey for anyone looking to give a beat down.

Allen was proud to say he was never in a fight because of an inability to frown. Now, fighting because he refused to bow down before someone happened multiple times a day, but that was just the law of the land.

"We should go through the back door, get you to the dojo first. I think you should see Yuu and Lenalee first. Any more could be overwhelming." Allen looked up with dead eyes - he wasn't listening to a word Lavi had said.

"Okay." He said in a clipped tone before promptly ignoring Lavi again.

There was loud chattering coming from the right of them. Seemed some weird kid was making a fuss and people were about to beat him up for it. Allen spared a glance at the kid before continuing on his way, not caring that his guide had stopped.

Lavi looked towards Johnny, wanting to help the poor kid. He was obviously still messed up after Allen's disappearance and it would be great to help the boy, but Allen would be far too overwhelmed by the boy's complete breakdown when they would meet that it would just be better to allow for a reintroduction after Allen was used to everything. Lavi made a mental note to tell Johnny that Allen was alright once he returned Allen to the hospital room.

Sending a silent apology to the poor, scrawny boy, Lavi continued on his journey, leading Allen step by step while making sure he didn't get too distracted by the scenery.

"Oi!" Lavi called out when they finally entered the dojo. "Anyone here?" Half a second later, there was a very sharp sword at his throat.

"Planning to bother me again?" Kanda snarled. After Lavi informed him about Allen, he continued to pester the samurai in front of Lenalee - partially to keep up pretenses, and partially because it was extremely entertaining to see a grown man get annoyed at the smallest of things.

"Bloody hell! Can I get me one of those? Damn, that's sweet. Hey, lady, can I buy it off ya?" Allen asked, practically fangirling over the katana. "Tried grabbing me one out of the damned blacksmith's shop, but the fucking cunt saw me and threw knives my way. Weren't that sharp, so I couldn't even use 'em. Couldn't get close enough to the shitty store to even grab a belt after that. Fucking retard…" Allen trailed off, still grumbling about the store owner.

"Hey, Moyashi, what's wrong with you?" Kanda, though thoroughly pissed with the 'lady' comment, let it go in favor of figuring out why the damn kid was acting so weird.

"Moyashi? The fuck you saying?" Allen asked, genuinely confused. "That some language this bloody Order uses? 'Cause I already told you, I don't know what the bloody hell this Order thing is! I don't understand a goddamn thing about this fucking place!"

"See what I mean?" Lavi said, completely exhausted with having to explain what was going on. And he hadn't even started.

Only the rest of the Order to go. How was this going to work? Was he going to have the energy to do it? Answer; no, but he's gonna have to do it anyway.

"This is how the beansprout acted as a kid?" Kanda questioned after the entire explanation of what happened. "He's different." Stating the obvious was the only thing to do in this scenario, seeing as Lavi was already distracted with annoying Allen by being the 'little fuckhead(Allen's words) he is. Allen was working on his growling and disgusted looks in an attempts to get rid of Lavi. As amusing as it was for Kanda to see such a look on the Moyashi's stupid face (Kanda's words), it was beginning to piss him the hell off. The brat didn't seem to know anything outside of street smarts, and that included his pathetic way of fighting. He seemed to hide his arm whenever possible and seemed to try and stay as far away from Kanda as he could. Only Lavi was able to gain some ground, but that was most likely due to him being an invasive little ass.

This continued for a while as Kanda's tick-mark grew and multiplied. He was about to intervene so he could finally beat some sense into the two of them when the dojo doors opened. Lenalee walked in, not noticing anything as she turned to close the sliding doors. When turning back to face the center of the room, she froze.

"The fuck is it? That sket just keep staring. Didn't ya hear it's bad to stare, bitch? You're papered arse self didn't learn shit, huh." Lenalee blinked owlishly at the gentleman-turned-street rat.

"I'm sorry, but what did you say?" Allen opened his mouth to repeat his rudeness in a more inapropriate way before Lavi covered his mouth, giving off an apologetic laugh. Kanda had a sneer but didn't do anything more than draw his sword while Lenalee continued to stare, more horrified than she was before.

"Let me explain first. Basically Allen got messed up in the brain by some akuma and now can't remember what happened after he was about 8. Now he's reverted back to his younger self, someone named Red who is a cussing little boy who doesn't trust anyone or know what a button down shirt is. Again, that's the basic from what we can get out of the brat. We'll need to talk to Cross to see if this actually is Allen's younger self, but it seems to be him." Lenalee took a moment to process the new information, but was able to smile her normal, kind smile after she was finished.

"So we need to get him used to people and hope for him to remember us?" Lavi nodded as Lenalee walked over to where Allen was looking at the equipment and weapons. When he picked up spiked nunchucks to inspect them, Lenalee removed them from his hands and placed them back in their spot.

"Red, could you tell me about yourself? Anything at all?" Lenalee asked, speaking softly and in a calming manner in order to make him relax.

"I ain't a child. Don't talk like that." He said, attempting to punch her but stumbling. His body proportions were far different than he remembered, and the pull of his punch threw him off balance. The body he currently had was taller and much, much stronger than he remembered his old one to have. "God fucking damn it." He shouted, nursing his head where it hit during his fall.

"Sorry kid, but you got the mind of a child. You were the youngest when you came to us, but now you're even younger!" Lavi ducked under a punch before getting hit in the stomach with a knee. Allen was slowly learning how to control his new body through fighting, but that didn't mean he had good control of his strength. Lavi went flying into the wall.

"Oooooowww," Lavi moaned. Allen grinned, jumping up in the air in victory only to hit his head of the ceiling and mimic Lavi, earning a laugh from the redhead. Allen, not one to let that go, sent a swift - but clumsy - kick in Lavi's general direction before resting on the ground.

"This body makes no damn sense. Ol' people don't have this strength! What the Hell!" Grimacing, Allen continued to mumble about everything ranging from his body to the other people in the room and how life sucked. He grew up in a circus, for god sake! His body control was fantastic and he could do crazy shit in the air and everything! All that hard work was for nothing if he couldn't figure out how to move these giant body parts.

Life really wasn't fair. First the goddamn arm that he'd had since birth, now the fucking white hair and some messed up eye in addition to his fucked up arm. And there were the damn people trying to convince him his name was Allen or some shit when he just wanted to be called Red! Allen was a fucking dog's name, not a human's!

Those bastards just didn't know what they were talking about. The circus made so much more sense.

Even it it was more of a shit hole. It made fucking sense.


	4. Escape the fucking cult

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allen gets bored of the Order. Besides, isn't just too easy to leave.

"Why is it so damn crowded in 'ere? Ya bastards better not make dis yer hang out! I'll kick all yer arses!" Allen screamed to the three people who entered his room. Sure, he had gotten used to Lavi coming and going as he pleased without paying mind to Allen, and Allen learned to think of Lavi's existence to the equivalent of air. The same could not be said for Kanda and Lenalee. No matter what Allen is like or what he calls himself, those two will never be able to get along without fighting. Lenalee just treated him like the child he was half the time, and the other half scolded him on his language. She annoyed him far more than Kanda would ever be able to.

The only good part about their visits was what they would bring. These guys had to be rich or something with the number of zeros in their wallets, not that Allen knew what currency it was they were using or the value of any of it. The two either didn't notice the lack of change occupying their pockets or never suspected him of being the one to do it. Both were possible reasons, though with what they thought Red was like made it more likely to the be later option.

It kept him satisfied for the time being. Not being able to swipe anything of value for the first couple of weeks he was in the same boring hospital rooms was mentally taxing. Sure, he'd taken a couple of Lavi's things, as well as the other people who came in every so often, but each time he'd put them back. All they carried were weird contraptions. A hammer, needle thing, vial of creepy looking gunk and so on. None of them made him want to keep it, except maybe the hammer. He returned the hammer anyway, seeing no use for it. The money he could use after finally escaping the shit hole.

First he just had to escape the lady-man, the sket, fucking eyepatch, old dude and creepy glasses guy. Easy. Jumping out the window would be the best way, but that could end in death. The only other possibilities would be sneaking his way out, since whatever fucking power there was above wouldn't give him the ability to escape from here by fighting his way out.

Plus, he still had to learn how to control this damned body.

Therefore, the first step in his in-progress plan was to train, and train hard. Lavi was excited when Allen said he wanted to get used to his body and asked about what exercises would be the best.

Lavi went overboard, talking about all of these great things to do that involved doing a one-handed handstand on the corner of a tilted chair and other equally impossible exercises. Allen responded by pushing him out of the room. Instead he did what acrobatics he could remember from the circus.

Flips, climbing, balance. All were simple for this body once Allen figured out how to control it. There might be merit in what the eyepatch was talking about if the things Allen used to struggle through came so easily. At the same time, there was no way Allen would go asking for help again. The first time was already too much of a mental struggle. Making that asshole happy took no work whatsoever, but shutting him down again? So. Damn. Exhausting.

The man-lady wouldn't help since he's a shitty nob, and the sket would be annoying about it. Therefore, it was time to escape the hospital and watch people train themselves.

Allen planned his escape. Jump out the window right after watching the weirdo trio fully leave the vicinity. Once they were out of sight, he would crawl out onto the side of the building and onto the ledge. Then, using the athletic abilities he finally got used to, he propelled himself off the first ledge before sliding down the wall and catching the windowsill below.

It was then that Allen learned one, important thing. His current body might look like shit, but it is a beautiful piece of work. No one should be able to perform that maneuver so perfectly.

From the windowsill he reached one of the cracks forming on the side of the building wall, finding one just large enough to fit three fingers into, and then placed all of his weight onto that crevice. He swung himself over to a vertical ledge mere feet away from his suspended position and clasp onto the ridges. He continued to shimmy down the ledge for three stories before landing on the ground.

Once more, Allen checked around to make sure no one was within view to see what he was doing. Not that it was a real conser, seeing as he could kill at least half the people on this weird land form without problem. The man-lady might be harder, same with the damn eye patch. Other than that, everyone else he'd seen had been wimps including the people who he'd seen while walking over to the training place. Doujo? Something like that.

The only problem with Allen's otherwise flawless theory was the gigantic wall he hadn't been able to see that blocked the only way down the mountain. It was creepy as all hell and seemed to be moving. As much as Allen wanted to disregard that weird piece of information as a hallucination, it was mildly difficult when everything else around him looked like a drug induced haze. Yet that was supposedly real life, and it didn't look anything like his last drug trip. To be fair, that was awhile ago and it's still pretty difficult to remember anything more than a week before all of this happened so there was still the possibility that none of this was reality and the people who kept him locked up constantly filled the room with a hallucinogenic.

Reality or not, Allen wanted to get out. Being held captive in a place where he can't use the money he stole was no fun what so ever. And all of the people were craze, so there's that. All he had to do was figure out how to get past the moving wall with a face and hope it was a way down the mountain and not just a steep drop like the other areas. He decided to sneak around the perimeter, sticking to walls and shadows to blend in, just the way he had done back home with more success than even then. Seems even with his white hair and weird hospital clothes and inability to scowl he was still was the best at this. The normal people glanced past him without paying any mind, and no one seemed weary enough to look closely at the shadows that seemed to move abnormally.

That said, there were far too few shadows to be able to travel in complete safety. It seemed these people of the Black Order didn't like darkness too much. Ironic, right? You would think they'd be some super shady organization that loved staying in the dark and hiding everything from the world. Of course, that could be the reason they live in such a secluded area on top of a mountain.

There were a few risky moves on his way to the weird gate, but each time he would wait until no one was in sight before moving, making sure to stay low to the ground in case someone thought they saw a shadow. Sure, that would be far less effective than it used to be in his normal body, but there's always hope. Unless there isn't, which honestly isn't abnormal when it came to his life. Actually, with his shitty luck, it was a miracle he managed to get all the way to the gate without anyone noticing. Now he just had to figure out how the fuck to get through the damn gate with a face.

"Aaaah! Allen! You're alright, huh? When did you get better? Actually, what was going on? Man, I haven't seen you in, what, three weeks? More? Dang, that's a long time. Anyway, what happened? Don't tell me you actually got taken down by some damn akuma! That'd just be pathetic. Well, you wouldn't be the first. But your arm is damn terrifying. Scares the shit out of most of the demons! Not that you care, of course. Well, you probably have somewhere to go. Do you have a break? I bet you do, since you aren't wearing your coat. Wow, you have some weird street clothes. Not that I know what those are supposed to look like anymore, since all of you wear different things! Any-who, I should let you get going. All of ya exorcists barely get any breaks! I mean, really, you get run ragged day in and day out. By, Allen! Have a nice break!"

Allen blinked to clear his head of the verbal onslaught and moved through the gate without giving it much thought, his body moving on instinct. The gate shouted a few more versions of goodbye, some which must have been in a different language since Allen wasn't used to the words but still understood what was being said. He gave a half-wave in farewell, mimicking what he would see Lavi doing whenever he left Allen's room.

He took off at a jog down the mountainous path, silently admiring the body he now had control of. The thing's stamina was off the charts, and it's speed was something he had never hoped of achieving even with the minimal training he picked up at the circus.

He wondered how the dog was doing now. It had been annoying as all hell at times where he was helping with setup and tear-down of the set, but during the cold nights having that dog to warm him was always nice. Plus, the dog always licked Allen's disgusting hand. It felt really weird at first since even Allen was reluctant to touch it at times, but having that hot wetness on it was comforting in a weird way. It was like the dog was accepting Allen's creepiness as just a part of him and moved on with life.

Dogs are such odd creatures. All other animals tended to avoid Allen, but not dogs.

When Allen saw what could be called a small town he headed towards it. Slowly he took out the money and counted, totaling a very large amount of cash. The only problem with this entire plan was that he had no clue what the currency was, no clue how to do math with such large numbers (his largest was normally 5, which he could add ones and fives to). The numbers of zeros were too ridiculous to be anywhere near the number value it was back home.

A second problem that he only found out when he finally reached the town was that he had no clue what a shop looked like in these parts. There weren't any buildings that opened up so he could pay or steal easily. It was more likely he had to go inside, but who knew what language these people would speak! And what if they knew the previous owner of this body? That wouldn't work out very well. That said, it was a risk he was willing to take. Not like it actually mattered if people found out he wasn't the Allen they thought he was. They could just stay confused for all he cared. This body was capable of beating any normal person up without a hitch.

Dammit, why did his life have to be so mentally exhausting? Really, with all the shit he had to go through it should've taken a full life where a person lived to the age of 40, not 9! Not. Fucking. Fare. Screw you, world. Allen swore he would do his very best to fuck up whatever plan the universe had in store for him all the way back when he was 6 and there was no way in heaven or hell that he would go back on his promise now.

Not that he was one to talk when compared to this guy. Some shit must've gone down to get his hair to be this white! Now, while Allen might not be a genius among geniuses, he could tell that this body was, in fact, not that old. Sure, it had taken a while to actually get that into his head because of the FUCKING HAIR, but it got in and that's all that mattered. But really? What type of shit did this guy go through? Stress turns hair white, so it has to be something stressful. Probably not someone dying, since that happens all the time. If it left him mentally broken that'd be a different story, but his friends seem to think he was normal. He must've done something when he was younger and turned everything to shit without meaning to. That coulda done it. And then got used to having such a fucked up mind and life that he was able to fake normal.

Poor bastard.

Not Allen's problem.

Moving on, the little town thing seemed to be more depressing than the one that he grew up in, and that's saying something seeing as a dead body or two dropped in the alleyway you were living at wasn't that uncommon. At least his place had some money. Blood money, sure, but it's still money that kept the shops running and some people eating. The people here were just run down.

Putting that at the back of his mind - because, again, not his problem - Allen went to a shop that looked to be selling some poor excuse for food. It looked to be some sort of fruit and after learning how to cut it open he payed the woman one of his smaller bills, which she seemed surprised about and handed him a couple more of the fruits. He nodded his thanks and proceeded to open up his fruit and eat, avoiding the huge ass seed in the center. They tasted something like those small green and purple things he had eaten a couple of times before. The ones that grew in these giant groups. Only this thing had spiky-looking parts on the outside shell, which was weird as all hell.

After sucking the last fruit piece out of it's freaky casing he stumbled upon a small group of kids trying to entertain one another. One kid was trying to do a handstand while another was attempting to juggle some stones, but failing miserably.

It was then when Allen did something he never thought he would do, ever, in his entire short ass life. He took pity on the poor brats and decided to teach them something. He grabbed the larger stones from their pile, taking five of them with an additional one balanced on his foot. Then he started juggling the five in his hand before tossing up the sixth and letting one drop back down onto his vacated foot. The brats laughed and one tossed yet another rock into Allen's circle. Allen caught it and now had six circulating between his hands with an additional on his foot waiting to be tossed back into the jumble.

Laughing kids drew the attention of some of the less weary adults and they started clapping along with the children, some of them hollering out praise.

Allen continued with his show until the crowd got large enough to fill the entire street. Deciding that was enough attention for one day, mainly since he was kinda sorta on the run from those black cult people, he took a bow and listened to the cheers for a couple more seconds until he lept onto a rooftop. It was already too late to avoid making an impression, so what harm could it do to make it even worse now? Creating a spectacle can be fun, even for someone who lived and thrived in the shadows.

Stomach and ego now satisfied, Allen headed off in some random direction that headed away from the cult compound. He could make money or get food on the road, possibly by talking with other travelers and trading goods for money or entertainment or by scavenging the land next to the road. There has to be something, otherwise people wouldn't live here. And now he knew those weird looking fruits were actually edible and tasted pretty good, so he could at least find those. The lady had to have gotten them from somewhere.

The first day of travel he didn't find anyone, and his stomach was making sure he knew it wasn't happy. It would seem that this body didn't take very well to him killing it's hunger, way different than his old one way. Hopefully that would change by the next day, cause his stomach's movements were extremely annoying and he didn't want to venture off of this straight path quite yet. His sense of direction might not be completely shitty, but that doesn't he won't get lost in such thick woods. Also, predators. No way in hell he could defend himself from something that was fast, strong, and had sharp teeth. He wasn't that controlled with his body yet.

Day two went just a little bit better. There were a couple of edible looking berries on the side of the road that he was able to grab and snack on for a mile or two before running out again. It was pretty great in comparison to the day before. There were still no people, but it sounded like there might be a town in the distance if the lack of animal noises and a weird clanking sound was any indication. Possibly a factory town, or it was an armory.

And there was a train sounding, so that settled it. Definitely a town. Allen debated picking up the pace and running down to where there had to be food or something helpful, but decided against it. Conserving energy was always the better idea, and even though the distance would be the same it wouldn't do to lose all of his energy before actually getting the the town.

Besides, who knew if his stomach could handle running in the state it was in. This body really was used to far more food. It has hard for even Allen to resist the temptation of just ripping it out to make it stop hurting. Having a stomach feel like it was digesting itself because it wasn't being put to work was disconcerting. Having it like that after only two days was worse. It used to be that seven days were nothing.

It took an excruciatingly long time before he got the the town, but turned out to be worth the wait. There was a little food stand at the very entrance where he could pay for some bread while swiping what seemed to be vegetables without the guy noticing anything.

He could take the train to increase the distance between him and the cult people, but for that he might need more money. If he started up a street performance like he did back in that other town he might actually be able to earn some money. The people here, while not wealthy per se, did seem to have a little extra money that they would be able to pay him with. It could be worthwhile to invest in some face paint or clothing, but that was a different problem for a different day. He wouldn't be doing this professionally, even though costumes normally bring in more cash.

He stuffed his face with the bread and veggies from the vendor as he walked around the town. There was a nice clearing where he could do his performances, but his normal street clothing was fairly pathetic. Even though he wouldn't go buy anything fancy, at least having a singular color or something that could be interpreted as circus clothing, albeit pathetic ones, would be better. One store he looked into had baggy white pants and one had a baggy, long sleeved red shirt.

He was able to swipe the pants without anyone noticing (plus an extra weird looking hat that was red), but the owner of the other store was watching him too closely and there was an innocent knife resting on his counter. Allen decided not to risk it. Paying for the shirt dropped his cash reserves a decent amount, but he still had some left - enough for another thing of bread - so he wasn't worried. Instead he put the baggy clothing on over his other clothes and tucked the end of the shirt into his pants to create a little flop at the end, then rolling up the sleeves to make them poof out a bit more above the elbow. It was an old trick he had learned from the other newbie performers when they left the circus grounds to get some extra money.

He put on his performance face, a small smile with slitted eyes that were supposed to help entice some of the older viewers. He swept his hair back with a showy gesture, drawing a couple of eyes towards his form even before he started his preformance. He kicked his legs up for a spin, flying through the air for a moment before landing perfectly on his feet and doing a backwards flip. This time he landed on his hands and walked all the way to the center of the clearing without falling. Once in the middle and with everyone's focus on him, he began the actual performance. One hand lifted off the ground and reached up to grab his foot, making him look like a human '0'.

From there he bent his back until one foot touched the ground, then placed all of his strength into one arm to push off of the ground. He caught himself perfectly with the one foot, but purposefully made it look like he was off balance in hopes of making the children, who had made their way to the front of the circle, laugh.

It worked, and he knew he would definitely be getting paid this day. The only thing that could possibly ruin his performance was someone chucking a rock at him, clearly not happy with having a newcomer coming in and making such a ruckus. Allen just caught the rock and tossed it up in the air, motioning for some of the kids to send rocks over to him as well. When they obliged he used each of the rocks in a juggling act. It only made more people clap for him, and only earned him extra cash.

That said, it does suck when you can't go and beat up the guy who tried to knock you down. Especially when you have the body capable of it. But money comes first, so that's why he kept the act up.

He held his newly acquired red hat out the the crowed when he finished, giving a short bow and jumping onto one hand when a kid came up with cash. It wasn't as much as he had started off with after leaving the cult, but it was about the cost of the pants so good enough for one performance. He whisked the cash into his shirt in one quick movement before placing the hat on his head. One of the kids noticed how no money fell out of the hat and questioned him about it. In silent response, Allen lifted up his hat and showed the empty insides of it to the kid.

His smile became far more forced when children swarmed around him, wondering what happened to the money and tugging on his clothes. He did his very best not to physically harm any of them, but bodily contact isn't exactly his strong suit. Thankfully the parents of the brats came for them and drew them away from the circus kid using the excuse of getting food and sweets. It drew them away pretty quickly, and Allen was free to find a place to sleep for the night. The main clearing was a bad idea since that was where the normies would be, and if normies found out he was on the streets the wouldn't pay him. He searched for a dark alleyway or something easier to sleep in.

There wasn't any perfect place to sleep, but that was fairly regular. One area had a bridge which could be pretty nice. Protection from the rain and all. But it was also the normal place to go and was extremely unusual for no one to be sleeping there, so there had to be a reason it was vacant. Allen decided not to risk it, instead finding a nice tall building where he could hide in the shadows. There wasn't any protection from rain or wind, but they sky seemed fairly clear and he didn't want to try his hand at sneaking into someone's house or shop. It would be like how he lived before the circus! Sure, it wouldn't be fabulous or anything like that, but he'd manage. He always has.


	5. Train cars with a side of cheating

"That bloody barmy! Don't he get I don't wanna deal with his chin waggin? Damn him." Allen growled to himself as he walked to the train station. He'd just seen a group of people in white with one black-coated guy following them. He instinctively knew it was people from the Black Cult and quietly slipped into the shadows to get away. They might not be looking for him in particular, seeing as he didn't recognize anyone in that group, but just being around them might mean that someone knew who the person who used to be in this body was.

So instead of sticking around with the people who may or may not be after him, Allen went to buy himself a train ticket (since sneaking onto the train didn't work so well the last time he tried it) and got ready to head off in whatever direction was cheaper. With his newly acquired ticket in hand he went to one of the food vendors that lay in wait at the station, ready to snatch money off of anyone who was dumb enough to leave extra cash in their pockets while buying food. At least, that's what Allen would do if he was them. So far he hadn't spent anytime inside of the train station and hadn't watched the vendors enough to see what they do to scam newcomers, but it would be pretty effective on anyone who wasn't used to a place without money.

He paid for some meat and snatched an extra veggie or two, then just sat in wait for the train. He didn't know how often they would be coming to this little town, but seeing as the vendors were currently open it couldn't be too long. Only idiots would keep open the entire time at a place where there wouldn't be any customers coming.

Allen briefly wondered why he hadn't bothered leaving earlier. Sure, he did have a decent time acting the clown in this place, but he could get so much more cash if he went to a bigger city. And there was always the danger of the cult catching up when he wasn't ready for them. Possibly some twisted form of sentiment, which would be entirely possible. After all, this was the first place he actually made some money on his own after escaping for the cult. The only problem - Allen doesn't do sentiment. Maybe because this was the best place he had lived yet. Sure, the circus was always moving and some of the towns were better off than others, but there was always an underlying darkness to them. Like the dead bodies he always seemed to find, or the screaming people he heard when someone was being attacked. None of that was here and there was a subtle reluctance to leave such a peaceful place.

It even turned out he was the only homeless person that had stayed in the city for such a long time! While that wasn't always a good thing (they could have been taken or killed just so people didn't have to look at them any longer, and Allen could have been next) it meant there was less competition for the cash in people's pockets.

That didn't mean the people here were defenceless or completely innocent. Sure, there were fights but they didn't get that bloody, and people would steal cash and goods from other people who weren't paying attention, but hey, no bodies. So yes, this was a peaceful place.

But now it was time to leave, and there was the train. Allen saw the group of cult members make their way up to the ticket booth and he quickly jumped onto the train before they could notice he was there. Sure, it meant they'd be on the same train, but it was unlikely that they would explore much more than their own section of the car. Allen decided to chill in the luggage section until they started moving. He fell asleep atop some fancy big-ass compartment, lulled to sleep by the train's sounds and his own tiredness. It was warm in the car, warmer than Allen had been in a long time. His sleep was deep enough that he only awoke when someone else entered the same car as he was resting. Multiple someones.

His first instinct was to stay as quiet as physically possible. His second was to see who it was any why they were in here. The third was to fight them.

Allen went with the second, completely confused on where that third one came from.

"Hey, swamp-donkey. What ya doin in my crib?" Allen asked to what was actually a fairly attractive man, or he would be without his damned glasses. The man was with a group of three other people, two fully grown men and one child. All of the men were muscled from what Allen could see, but their clothing did well to hide it. Two of them looked to be the thug types while the attractive one seemed to be a nerdy office worker. The kid had a mask over his face, so he might be sick or hiding something the way Allen hid his arm and hand under sleeves and a glove.

"Hey, hey, hey. Didn't know anyone else was here, yeah? Sorry about that, boy. Ya don't mind if we chill here, do ya?" The glasses guy grinned stupidly and lit a cigarette. Allen scoffed and jumped down. The people looked interesting and not at all from the cult, so what was the harm in messing with them a bit? He walked over and poked glasses in the chest.

"Y'all woke me up, numpty. That ain't smart." Allen growled, making sure he was extremely in the guy's face while silently sneaking one hand into the guy's pocket and pulling out a couple of bills. He pulled away from the guy, slipping his newly acquired money into his shirt with all the rest of it. "Better not make me paste ya. Yer gonna go flyin ta that wall. You get me?"

The damn glasses had the nerve to laugh it off, though his hands were up in the surrender position, so that was a good sign. "C'mon, boy, we aren't payin' for this ride. This is the best place to chill without getting caught. How 'bout we play some games? For money, of course. Keep it interesting and all that. All against all, so we don't get advantage. How 'bout it, boy?" To the surprise of everyone from the other group, the teenager didn't get mad at being called 'boy' and instead became interested in what he was talking about.

"What type a tosh ya talkin' about?" Glasses' infuriating grin showed itself again, but this time Allen wasn't bangin to conk him. The guy sat Allen down and pulled out cards, each with a different thing on them. Some had black designs on them, others had red, and some more had people.

"What's this shit?" Allen asked, purely out of curiosity. For some reason it seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember a time where these would have been anything noteworthy. They could've been in a store he'd snatched stuff from, but that was about it.

"It's called poker, boy, and it's the best and worse game yer ever gonna play." The other two fully grown males of the group grinned in their thug-like way and Allen narrowed his eyes. Glasses started out by explaining what each card was and what it 'ranked' in points, then he talked about what was good to have and what wasn't. Royal flush, blaze, catch perfect. Call, check, fold. Clip, center pot, chop. Everything was explained at a speed where Allen didn't think he'd be able to keep up but somehow forced it into his young brain. Glasses did nothing to make sure Allen understood everything he had talked about, and Allen knew the guy would be playing dirty. He didn't know how it would be possible to cheat in a game where everything was on the table and visible to everyone, including Allen, but it had to be possible if this man was so sure of himself.

The entire thing started out sketchy. Allen managed to keep up with one of the thugs, but he was blown away in the first game by Glasses. In the second game he managed to beat both the thugs, but not Glasses. At one point he noticed Glasses was hiding cards in his clothing or folding a corner of one that must be important. In turn he mimicked the action, using his street-rat skills to keep things simple and easy.

It took two more rounds, but he beat Glasses and took him for all he was worth. He got hyped on the thrill of beating the man at his own game and lost control of himself, jumping up in the air and whooping. The excitement that ran through his veins allowed him to revert to a normal child, one that got excited by little things like food or friends. Sure, he lost control of himself for a little bit, but he didn't think that would change much when he could just beat up anyone who would try and use his weakness.

They didn't. It was something much, much more weird.

"Hey, boy, you wanna travel with us?"

"Hell no, yer a creepy skint." The man at least looked somewhat embarrassed, not that it was hard to do dressed in only your underwear and creepy ass glasses.

"C'mon, boy, think about it at least. We aren't getting off for a while yet, so how about we play another game and if I beat ya then ya join us?" Allen considered it for a moment. Would it really be so bad to travel with them? More money was a bonus, plus they taught him how to earn a little extra money. But was that enough to make him travel with people that tried to take all of his money and leave him without clothing?

Yes. He's done it for less, namely the circus.

A group of adults beat him up before he joined, so it seemed to fit his pattern. Maybe this is just some weird form of initiation that he always gets dragged into.

For some reason a sword fight with someone flashed in the back of his eyes. The person with the sword was that lady-man back in the cult compound. Maybe a memory from the former owner of the body. Whatever. Just another thing that didn't matter to Allen. Besides, he was free of the damn cult! So what did it matter what this body used to do, besides the fact that it was strong as fuck. And so he went along with Glasses' bet, making sure that if Allen won all of them he would get one free favor from the group of miscreants. Not that he would ever call in on it, but playing more of that game would be fun.

Three games. The two thugs folded in the very beginning of the first game and opted out of playing the next two. Allen beat Glasses by a landslide in the first game, than barely lost in the second. From what Allen could tell while in his extremely focused state of mind, amidst the cheating and reading facial tells to know what Glasses would do next, was that the guy sitting in front of him was having the time of his life. It didn't matter that Allen was better than him, it didn't matter that his poker face was pretty good - Allen didn't know how he was able to see through it - the guy was excited by the fact that someone was able to beat him.

To Allen's knowledge, that didn't mean the guy was a narcissist (and Allen knew a lot of them). It meant he was a bored guy looking for a challenge, and that was something Allen could get behind. Even if he hadn't lost the bet, there was still a good chance he would go with the group.

They never finished the third game.

"Well then, boy, looks like I win. Name's Tyki, by the way. Tyki Mikk." Tyki held out his hand, waiting for Allen to shake it or some shit. Instead Allen took out the money he'd swiped from Tyki's pocket and held it out to him, a maniacal grin on his face.

"Allen. No last name. Nice ta meet ya, Tyki." Tyki's eyes widened at the sight of his own cash (yes, he could tell) and searched his pockets. Looking back at Allen, Tyki's own grin showed itself in all of it's insane amusement.

"Boy, I think we're gonna be great friends. I'll show ya some of the best places ta hang. Ya ever been to a bar? Ya can earn some real money playing the game in there." Allen adopted an appreciative look, head lightly nodding without his consent. "What ya do anyway? I mean, there's no way you'd be able to get an actual ticket for this thing without being able ta make money. What's yer trick?"

"Preformer. Used ta work at a bloody circus 'till some shit or another went down. Ya know how it is. Rozzers and them shut 'em down." Allen knew he was bullshitting, but a street rat gets good at that. He'd no fucking clue what happened to the circus. Maybe the police actually did shut them down, it wouldn't be that far fetched. Half the people on the crew were criminals, most still sold drugs, and a couple people had no problem finding helpless people to rape.

If that was what Tyki assumed, good. If it wasn't, no harm done.

"Will you show us?" The kid asked.

"Yeah, sure, Kid. But only when we get on the street again and I can make some money. What's yer name, huh?"

"Eeez."

"Well then, Eeez, I'll show ya when we can get idiots to watch. If ya want I could teach ya a bit! Whaddya think?" Eeez nodded his head yes, and Allen could have sworn he saw a smile in the kid's eyes. His mouth was masked, so he couldn't really see if the kid's lips were smiling with his eyes. He assumed they weren't.

"Well, I guess we should probably introduce everyone, huh? We're just a group of orphans from Portugal. You already know me and Eeez, but here's Crack and Momo." Tyki motioned to the brown-haired muscular guy and then the blond haired guy with a wool cap. "We were told there was some coal mining job over here, so decided to get some money that way. Ya could come check it out with us, or just make some cash on the streets. Yer choice."

Allen hummed, thinking about what to do. He'd never worked in the coal mines before, but that was mainly because there hadn't been any around where he lived before joining the circus. After he already had a job, and mining didn't seem that inviting.

In fact, it still didn't seem like a good job. So many people died in the mines every week. Why would he do that when there was preforming and even gambling! In fact, why would Tyki need to go mining if his gambling was as good as he thought it was?

Well, whatever. What they did with their time wasn't his problem. As long as they were interesting to be with it was fine.

"Yeah, you guys can do the death job. I get tons of money as it is. These places are way richer than where I'm from, so they should be real easy prey."

"Where are you from?" Momo asked, his woolen-covered head tilting to the side. Allen absent-mindedly noted the guy was almost as short as Allen himself was.

"Ah, what was it called? Started with a U. There were two words in there. Well, it's something, I never really learned it. No nationalism in that place, and no one really cared about the government."

"So you don't know what country you were living in, but you know words like nationalism? That's weird, kid." Allen sneered at the snarky sonofabitch. The guy had the guts to make fun of him? Well, Allen had no qualms beating the guy up next time he talked about Allen's vocabulary. There was no reason this body wouldn't know the words and accidently filter them into Allen's speech patterns.

Not that Momo would have known that. Only Allen and the cult people even know he's been transferred into a different body, and his control over this body was good enough that no one would know the difference! Though they might question his personality seeing as the body looked old as all hell, but Allen can always explain it as a medical condition.

He'd found that children can pass as moody teenagers. Most people don't even give him second thoughts if he shouts at them for one random thing or another. One time he was just curious to see how someone would react to him yelling at them from across the street, and most people barely noticed. It was pretty great. All jokes aside, there'd be no problem with the way he acts. There might be something with his sense of direction (it's terrible. Allen blames it on his non-existent parents for passing down their stupidity) or how he's still new with things, but the former can be excused as stupidity and the later with his life as a street rat that didn't get around much.

The group of soon-to-be miners went on their way to the mines while Allen set about looking for the best place to perform. There was one area with a sculpture in the center of a large square, and Allen decided that was as good as any he'd found in the other towns. He went about his normal tricks, searching the crowds for people who were able to pay more than the others. After spotting a few potentials he began to gauge their reactions to what he was doing. When one started to loose interest and looked like they might walk away he changed it up, adding spins or jumping off of other people in the crowd. Anything that would keep them interested for at least a little longer was good, just enough for them to get money out of their large pockets and place it into the hat he was about to walk around to collect the cash in.

He lost one of them, but the other six did pay a good sum. With his cash collected he headed to a store, possibly a kid's store from what it had outside. Allen looked around for anything that could fit his act. Varying sizes of air-filled balls, shiny anything, maybe some candy he could throw at children with parents around. Sure, it made him spend cash on something that he just gave away, but that normally made parents far more generous with their wallets.

There were a couple of balls with stars decorating them in different colors, and all of them were the size of Allen's palm. Juggling would be best for these. There was a small thing of candy near the checkout, and Allen opted to go for those last. There was an oddly shaped object that was also colorful that Allen picked up; just to see what he could do with it. It was stick-like, but with a thicker end with a thinner (what he believed to be) handle. He picked up three total and went with it.

He also found some colorful cloth that would just be so easy to tie together and make a long rope that could fit so easily in his sleeves.

Allen walked out of the store covered in colorful everythings and a bag of candy in his hand. He managed to sneak out the cloth under his clothing, but only about half of what he took. A couple of balls now occupied his shirt, but again it was only a few. It wouldn't do to have people noticing something was weird while he was heading out of the shop. All in all, his purchase cost half of his earnings for the day. Not bad, if he said so himself.

Which he did.

The next stop was anywhere he could find make-up or face-paint. He might have the clothes and props of a clown, but the overall look was still missing, and that one clown made sure to teach him that makeup was everything. If people didn't clearly see you were a clown they would just think of you as some lunatic. Of course, the clown that taught him that was a true lunatic, making jokes about suicide and the like. Also, Allen was pretty sure the clown thought the dog could talk back to him. It was strange, and the guy was definitely insane. Possibly as much as those cult people were.

Allen also wanted to cover up his weird-ass tattoo. It had to be freaking some people out, though a couple of people seemed to think of it as part of his costume. Idiots.

Not that he blamed them, per se. It freaked him out for a while, too. A star thingy being carved into one's face was not natural, and if the carving thing was red, well, that was just plain weird. And demonic. It was another thing he blamed on the cult, no matter how many times and how much effort the eye-patch idiot put into explaining that it wasn't the cult's fault for any of Allen's bodily changes.

Sure. And they don't kill people because those people are so-called evil, either. Like Allen is going to trust anything they say.

While the hunt for decent, well-priced makeup was in vain, Allen had enough money to buy a little bit of food in a day or two. He'd found long ago that by eating each day you only made yourself more hungry, therefore needing to eat even more. It was a ruthless, never-ending cycle of terribleness.

Tyki said that wasn't a word, but screw him. Eeez had no problem with it and Eeez was a smart kid.

"Hey, Allen! Over here!" Ah, speak of the devil and he shall appear!

"Why you chuffed, huh? Did ya gaffer give ya some good cash?" Allen asked, crossing the road to join the group. All four of them were covered in dirt, Crack most of all.

"Nah, but we got enough for food, so let's eat!" Momo shouted. Allen wondered what the last time they ate was. For it it was only a day and a half ago, so not really too bad yet. There was the possibility that they hadn't figured out the best times for a person to eat so they don't get hungry that quickly, but he didn't want to teach them much just yet. Plus, Allen did know that malnutrition stunted growth, so Eeez should definitely eat all that he can.

The others can skip a few meals every day, and definitely every week. Saving up money is vital, even though Allen doesn't know why he thinks it he knows it's true. Spending everything all at once can lead to giant problems in the future. Until Allen decides to teach these orphans how to live in the real world where no orphanage will take you, he'll be the one taking care of little Eeez. Not that the others would notice until later. Allen didn't want them to do their nuts. Three pissed people would be too much for him to deal with, and he might just end up leaving. That wouldn't be very great for any of them.

"Yeah, yeah. You guys go do that, I gotta keep practicin'. Never good enough to call it quits, ya know?" Three of them just shrugged off his obvious evasion tactic, but Tyki seemed to look deeper into him.

"Ya know what, I'll stay a bit, too. You guys go eat, we'll be in later." He waved the three away as they headed to a restaurant. Tyki kept looking into Allen's eyes, trying to get a read. Allen didn't try to hide anything, but there wasn't much to tell so that's all his eyes showed. Tyki finally spoke after the guys were out of earshot. "If ya didn't get enough we can always pay a bit."

Allen sneered. The mere thought of someone paying for him made him want to puke his guts out. "No way, mate. 'Sides, not the problem. If ya eat now ya get hungry later. It hasn't been long since my last meal, so I'm good."

"Don't be a numpty. You didn't eat this morn, ya didn't eat on the train. When did ya?"

"Before the train, 'kay? Didn't know ya then, so ya didn't see me eat. What's the problem?"

"Nah way, man. You haven't eaten in over a day, yer gonna be comin in with us. Leggo, it's time for ya to get some fuel. You've been workin all day in the sun!" Tyki grabbed Allen by the arm and started dragging him away from his props which he had been packing inside of a cloth to carry around. It was the way they'd move the small stuff in the circus, but even having something that looked so pathetic drew in people who would be willing to sell anything just to make change.

"Oi! I got my stuff over there! Ya can't just do that, Tyki! I'll paste ya!" Allen hissed, pulling his arm back and sending Tyki falling on his face. Until he caught himself, that is. Tyki blinked, surprised at the strength inside of Allen's slender arms. When the surprise cleared away to awe he grabbed Allen once more, this time to poke at the muscle that was packed in instead of attempting to haul him off to the unwanted food.

"Dang, boy! How'd you manage this?" He asked, still poking around. Allen grinning and pulled his arm away once more before jumping off his feet and landing perfectly on one hand.

"This is how! Ya need muscle ta be in the circus, and I got spawny that ya can't see it. Makes people loosen their wallets when a skinny can lift 'imself. What, ya can't do this with yer miner muscle?"

"Nah, ya have ta teach me. And Eeez won't let ya off without getting taught, too. He could join ya on the streets instead if the mines." Allen nodded absentmindedly. It would be good to teach Eeez something else that could get him money. His sickly body wouldn't be able to keep up in the mines and he might stop earning.

"Well, boy, we better catch up with them, and yer comin'. Don't resist." Allen pouted and shuffled his feet after Tyki once he picked his bag up off of its resting place.


	6. Connections and killings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Discovery of what the hell Innocence does, and a little bit of Road fucking with Tyki.

"What the fuck!" Allen shouted, hand pressed flush against his left eye. Tyki's head shot up from the move he was about to make, all but throwing the cards down to get over to Allen. The white-haired boy was gritting his teeth against the pain enveloping his eye before releasing it when the pain dissipated. "Bloody fucking hell that hurt!" He shouted, fairly out of breath.

"What happened, boy?" Tyki asked, reaching a hand up to grasp Allen's arm and draw it away from his eye. Allen reluctantly loosened his muscles, allowing Tyki to move his hand to the side. His eye was glowing with three red circles inside an all consuming darkness. It was then that a green glow shown through the glove Allen wore constantly. The poor boy freaked out, jumping away from Tyki and yelling to himself.

"That fucking cult! What did they do to this fucking body? God dammit!" Tyki blinked a couple of times, trying his very hardest to figure out what Allen could mean by cult. It didn't take too much longer to deduce when Allen's hand grew in size and turned into a white claw. Both Allen and Tyki's eyes went wide. Tyki slipped one hand behind his back, quickly drawing out a tease, just in case.

"Holy shit." Allen breathed out, testing the arm by closing it to make a fist, only to stab himself with the claw, causing him to curse again. Tyki relaxed seeing as Allen himself had no clue what to do. That automatically brought his sanger level to near zero. Not a complete zero, since the kid still has the innocence, but close enough.

Allen went about playing with his newly acquired arm, thankful the only person near was Tyki, and Tyki wasn't saying anything to draw Allen's attention away. Sure, an explanation would definitely be required in the future but Allen could deal with that later, preferably once he figured out what the hell was happening.

His eye twitched again and drew his attention to a newcomer that just walked onto the street. Something was floating above him. Possibly a person, just warped a bit due to the pain and sorrow contorting its face.

"Ugly cunt." He said, growling to himself. The person only had a face with some shoulders, but the rest of it was a giant blob of grey and brown stuff with areas bulging out. "What the fuck is that?" He turned towards Tyki, hoping the guy could see it as well and confirm that Allen wasn't hallucinating this time. Again, drugs create fun hallucinations, not these freaky things that happened to be real life.

Allen wished he had some drugs right about now. Then the world could make some sort of sense.

"What's wrong?" Tyki asked, caution slowing accumulating once more. It would seem as though Allen knew this was an akuma (because he activated his innocence and when the fuck did he get that), but there was no reason for him to call it a cunt. It was just some random dude in a business suit. If anything he's call the guy a nob.

"Damn it all." He bit out. First a weird monster arm, now hallucinations. What type of fucked up life did he live?

It only got worse when his arm started moving on it's own.

The thing stretched on it's own, reaching out to hit the person and, therefore, the thing inside of it. With the creepy crying lady broken, Allen felt himself being drawn into a different world where the freed lady thanked him. Allen was too confused to do anything but accept her thanks. Only after would he question why he'd be so kind to a weird lady he didn't even know. Kindness in general didn't make any sense to him unless it benefited his own purpose.

Allen returned to the normal world, stumbling a bit when his arm changed length once more, returning to it's normal size and look. His wide eyes looked at Tyki before he passed out, the combination of a lack of food and using up energy on his innocence was too much of a stressor for his body. Tyki was left in charge of the boy, having to decide between seeing what would happen next and going to tell the Earl. Seeing as he wasn't on a job there was absolutely no reason for him to kill Allen or take his innocence. Tyki himself didn't really care, and even the Noah laying inside of him didn't have any extreme hate of innocence, so no internal battles were waged.

Tyki decided the best course of action would be to pick up the boy and carry him to their sleeping areas. Currently they were on the street, but that would change right once the group got their first pay day. Allen could already buy a room for himself in one of the cheap motels, but he insisted that since he was used to staying outside at night and a bit longer wouldn't matter.

The kid was too sweet, no matter what anyone else thought. With Tyki and the other orphans Allen seemed like he would sacrifice quite a lot. Not his freedom, of course, or anything that had to do with much money, but he'd give little bits of food to Eeez saying he'd gotten full. He'd mess with Crack and Momo while they tried to do something, correcting their form through a slap or two, or saving them from getting pick-pocketed by kicking them out of the way. For the two adults Allen didn't let them see any of his protection as what it was, instead disguising it as bodily harm to them.

Tyki was sure he was treated mostly the same as the others, he just didn't know how. It seemed to take an outsider's viewpoint to understand Allen's complex show of love.

Moving back to the matter at hand, there'd be a time he'd have to tell the Earl just what exactly was going on with this not-exactly-an-exorcist. That said, a bit longer wouldn't hurt. The Earl wasn't yet in that much of a rush to find the Heart, and he'd only just decided to go after the generals. Tyki hadn't even been called out for a mission, he only knew because Road visited once in his sleep and was excited about hunting the exorcist. She was talking about this one town that was stopped in time and how she wanted to go, but the Earl decided she was needed elsewhere.

The Earl was stuck helping her with homework for a week after he pulled that stunt. She was not happy.

Of course, all of this happened just a bit before he had met Allen, and they'd been traveling together for a week and a half already. It was about time for the Earl to contact him with his first job, preferably one where he could finish up quickly.

Tyki walked through the streets with Allen passed out on his back. Oh, how he wished someone could paint a picture of this so he could use it as blackmail in the future. There was no way Allen would admit to something like this happening. It would ruin his street rep.

Tyki set the boy down once they got to the little bridge they slept under. He'd have to wait until the boy woke up before questioning him on his innocence, just to make sure the kid truly didn't know what it was. Of course, that conversation would have to take place only when the others weren't present. It would be best if Allen woke up soon. Crack and Momo were out teaching Eeez how to pickpocket people without getting caught. The kid was inspired by Allen's mystical ways and decided to try teaching himself, which only got him beat up the last time he tried. Allen later showed him which people would be best to go after and how he knew, mainly pointing out people that had a small amount more money than the others and the people who left themselves completely unguarded.

When Tyki goaded Allen by saying he could only steal from the easy people, Allen proved his skill by taking Tyki for all he was worth plus some. Tyki hadn't expected nor felt Allen's fingers slipping their way under his clothing to his valuables. He only found out the boy had done anything when Allen himself was showing his newly acquired items to the youngest of their group.

Allen's sly smile left avery confused but motivated Tyki in it's wake. There was a war starting up, one that contained pickpockets and gamblers, where friends turned to foes and pranked the hell out of each other.

As of today, Allen was in the lead. By a lot.

Tyki couldn't figure out how it was possible for a human to surpass the Noah of Pleasure when it came to something as enjoyable as poker or pranking. Allen just didn't make sense according to any of the rules Tyki had created over the years to make sense of his crazy life, such as humans are weak and mindless but sometimes entertaining. Exorcist and people with innocence are giant assholes that only want to kill akuma and hurt the Earl. Teenagers are difficult to deal with.

All that he could do was ask Allen what was going on and hope the kid knew himself. Or didn't, since that would mean he could live a bit longer.

At some point through his thinking Tyki fell asleep. He dreamed of candles and dresses, a clear indication that Road was finding her way into his dream. It took a bit for her to fully insert herself, starting out only as a doll version that slowly became more realistic.

"Lord Millenie is upset he can't get in contact with you, Tyki. Why haven't you been near the phone?" Road asked, hands held behind her back and leaning forward a bit.

"Been working in the mines." He answered. No need to tell her about the new boy just yet. Having the guy for entertainment just a bit longer was better than letting Road have her way with the person stealing Tyki's attention. The last time he was intrigued with someone for any period of time, Road went about playing with her candles and messing with dreams. The human came out of that scarred physically and mentally broken.

Tyki wasn't torn up about it, but the human was intriguing enough to miss for a couple of days. He was closer to Allen, and being upset for anything more than a week was just depressing. So, no telling Road about him.

"Oh, whatever. You just need to kill Exorcist General Kevin Yeager and anyone with him, then come back here for a bit. Oh, and the Earl want to have dinner sometime soon, so stop by when there's time! Sherryl's been whining about how you're never there."

Tyki groaned. His brother could truly be so annoying sometimes with all that 'Noooooo, you can't go live on the street! Let me give you money! Wait, stop gambling! Thats no way to live. What, you work in the mines, too? How about you become my negotiator! You'll be safe then! But brootheeer! Why are you hitting me? I just want a hug from your cute self!' Man, he was so gross sometimes.

"Yeah, sure. I'll be in after taking care of the general. Ya got directions or something?" Road handed him a card. The grinning prisoner trapped inside had the name Kevin Yeager written on its cell wall. Tyki took the card and tucked it into his shirt. Hopefully Allen wouldn't snatch it before Tyki could do his job. The boy still had a habit of taking anything of Tyki's that wasn't guarded with the utmost care. With Tyki being as forgetful as he is, that means Allen always has his stuff.

"I'll see ya around, Road." He said with a grin.

Road took out a lollipop and stuck it in her mouth. Her eyes bore into him, looking for any differences from the last time she saw him. Removing the candy from her mouth, Road asked "Who's the new guy?" Obviously enjoying Tyki's look of surprise, she smirked. "Oh, come on. You really thought I wouldn't be able to tell? C'mon, Tyki, you can't fool me. I know you best, well, besides Sherryl, but he doesn't count because he's a stalker."

"Yeah, yeah. Fine. We got a new guy. He's a clown and works on the streets, but makes his keep. He's interesting, just don't kill him yet. Okay?" Tyki wasn't pleading, but Road could tell he was definitely serious about the no killing part.

"Well, okay then. But just checking him out won't be bad, will it? Please, Tyki? I should know who you're hanging around with." Road pouted, but Tyki could see the threat in her eyes. He automatically agreed that she could and should, in fact, check the kid out. As long as his innocence didn't activate or anything, everything should be fine.

They said their goodbyes, with Road promising to be there in a day or two, but Tyki would already be gone by that point so it didn't really matter.

Tyki left Road's dream world, re-entering reality.

"You awake yet, sweet heart?" A biting male voice asked. Tyki looked to see that he'd fallen over in his sleep, now putting half his weight on Allen. The kid had a sneer on his face and a glare filled his eyes, but Tyki knew it was reflex as opposed to him actually being pissed. Tyki just grinned, first pushing more weight onto the boy - purely to annoy him - before getting fully off and standing up. Allen huddled more into the wall he was leaning against, ignoring Tyki's hand offering to help him up.

"So, any chance ya know what happened with yer arm?"

"Straight ta the point, eh? Well, I ain't got nothing. This all buggin, you get me? I mean, damn, the fuck's with this arm? First red, now white? Fuck. That god damned cult gotta have done this."

"Ya keep talkin' 'bout a cult. Who are they?"

"Dunno. Just woke up one day and bamb, they right there. Kept me locked up in a hospital or something, didn't meet anyone for a couple weeks. Damn boring, really. Only met five people, and all of them were crazy. Kept sayin' I was someone else, but I really just woke up in the wrong body. This guy? Ya see, it's not me. This guy's name is Allen, but I used to be Red. 'm actually real young, not like this old man. My hair was a red brown an' everythin'." Allen didn't seem to care that he was telling all of these crazy things to Tyki, someone he'd only met a week or two ago. Maybe he just didn't care if Tyki thought he was insane, or maybe he actually trusted Tyki. Whichever it was, Tyki had no clue.

That said, he still had an idea about who this 'cult' was, and it was safe to say he was extremely entertained by the thought of calling them the Cult instead of the Black Order. Might bring it up to the Earl and get all the other Noah to call them that, too.

He'll have to tell his assignment Kevin Yeager what their new nickname would be before he died. Might make him mad, which is always fun to see when they aren't able to do anything.

"But what do they look like? C'mon, boy, ya gotta give me somethin."

"Fine. They call themselves the Black something or other, and they have people wearing fancy-ass black jackets plus people in all white. That enough for ya? Geez."

"Ya hate 'em or what? Sounds like they kidnapped ya and everything."

"I'd beat the shit outta anyone of them that tries to take me in again, but nah. I ain't gonna go after 'em or anythin'. They got people who can fight, 'specially that lady-man." Tyki nodded despite his confusion, but someone calling an exorcist a 'lady-man' was just too good. At least it was confirmed that the people who had taken Allen - or Red, but he's currently going with Allen so that's what Tyki plans to stick with - were part of the Order and were wanting Allen to become an exorcist.

Tyki could, should in fact, destroy Allen's innocence before Allen tries to destroy the Noah. That said, where's the fun in killing him now? Getting rid of his innocence and leaving Allen would result in an Allen missing his arm, which automatically would make him less fun.

"Well, I'll be having to leave town for a bit. Got a side job away from you guys. Shouldn't take long, so give me a week. Think you'll be able to run the group for a bit?" As fun as it was to talk about the 'cult', there were more important things. Momo and Crack weren't the best at taking care of Eeez, even though they care about the kid. While Allen wasn't exactly the best at taking care of people, he at least knew how to take care of himself and how to deal with people on the streets in a way that avoided conflict. From the sounds of it, Allen had raised himself from an age younger than 5, though Tyki hoped it wasn't much younger than that. It was a wonder the kid was alive as is.

"Yeah, sure. I'll keep 'em goin'. Do what you want, but don't expect me ta make money for ya if ya crash this job, get me? I ain't haulin your damn ass through life." Even though Allen was being an ass and everything, Tyki knew he'd still get help from Allen if he came back without cash. But that also meant that Allen would be rejecting his own well being by skipping a meal or two. It was still a problem Tyki was working on fixing, finally managing to get Allen to eat a meal each day. It probably is best that the kid eats rarely considering his appetite. They wouldn't have any money left over for anything if Allen ate what he really should be.

That would actually be a good reason to get rid of his stupid arm. Even when inactive it causes so many problems.

Probably wouldn't go over well with Allen, though. Even with him hiding it all the time, he's rather attached (no pun intended) to the stupid innocence-created limb.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't skip town till I get back. It'll be difficult trackin' you down. Reminds me, how the hell do ya know how to disappear so easily? I mean, damn boy. All of 'em people ya screwed over don't got a chance of findin' us. Yer tricks are just too good for a random street rat."

"Always had ta run from people, if that does it. Normally find me, though. But whatever, might just be some knowledge from this guy's body 'stead of mine."

"Ya seem to think this guy gives ya a lot of extra stuff, huh. I mean, he had to 've been a gambler before you took over! No way you got that good without already knowin' it. Did ya learn clown stuff from him, too?"

"Nah, the clown was all me. Been doing it since I was able to walk on my hands and they let me in." The conversation slowly died. Tyki became absorbed in his own thoughts and Allen was still exhausted from the use of his arm. Just before sleep could come to the boy, the missing three people of their group showed up. Tyki told them what was happening with his job, and they accepted it fairly easily. It seemed this wasn't the first time he had taken a job from a private client, and most of the time came back richer for it.

Eeez promised to see him off from the train station, while Allen promised to sleep in and miss him completely. Crack and Momo would wait for Eeez to come back before they headed off to the mines.

When the train came for Tyki the next day, three of the four people fulfilled their promises. Allen, while he didn't come and say bye to Tyki, still woke up before the guy got on the train and silently followed them to the station. Tyki pretended not to notice the guy's presence, opting to talk with Eeez and make sure he 'kept the other guys in line, 'cause who knew what they'd get up to without the voice of reason around'. Eeez proceed to remind Tyki that he was fairly useless as a voice of reason, and that Allen was the true voice of reason for the adult males.

Tyki pretended to cry, if only to make Eeez laugh.

When Tyki waved goodbye out the train car's window, he blew a short kiss in the direction of Allen's watching point and briefly wished he could have a painting of the look on Allen's face when the kid noticed he was caught.


	7. Annoying brats and contemplating murder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter the creepy little stalker child, AKA Road

A little piece of shit kept following Allen, and he had half a mind to destroy her and her entire family for making his paranoid mind even worse. The girl seemed innocent enough, with her candy and knee-length skirt, but something about her was off-putting. Like she was older than she looked. Allen didn’t like it, and he really didn’t like it when she tried to befriend Eeez. At least the boy knew not to get close to people that Tyki didn’t specifically introduce him to.

Tyki taught the kid well.

Now all Allen has to do is get rid of the little shit stalking him. Her eyes were way too sadistic for his taste. Sure, there’s some guys that like shit like this, but Allen still feels like a 9 year old, and other children are still just scum that live in the underbellies of cities and towns. They’re good forgetting him more cash, but that’s it.

Except Eeez. Eeez is a good kid that deserves what he gets, with all the work he puts into everything. Allen wouldn’t have gone to work in the mines when he could just steal everything he needed. It was easier, more efficient, and he knows what he’s gonna get in the end. Trusting people to give him cash at the end of something just wasn’t gonna work, seeing as the place he used to live would screw a kid over in seconds without a moment's through.

The little girl (that possibly wasn’t as young as she seems) doesn’t deserve what she gets, with her clean clothes and pockets filled with candy. Or maybe she does, and that’s what makes her eyes so demented.

Allen wanted to talk to her, but he also wanted to run away from the child. He chose the former.

“Hey, ankle-biter, what you doin’ chaisen down homeless people?” He asked. The girl smiled up at him without answering, instead walking past him and sitting down next to their stuff. She munched down on some more candy, looking around at all of their warn possessions. 

Allen grunted and started getting ready for another performance. His loose clothing was already on, and all that was left was the clown makeup that he had recently bought. First to cover the tattoo with base, then make little shapes on his cheeks and forehead. The girl was silent for his entire transformation, even when he was shoving little trinkets into his shirt to help with the act.

“Why don’t you have a bigger ball? I thought clowns were supposed to be good at balancing on them.” She asked in a voice lower than Allen was expecting. He was just about to head out to the main square after carefully packing and hiding everything in a place where the girl wouldn’t be able to see or reach.

“Haven’t seen any in the places we go. Why, you want me ta give ya a performance for a rich girl?” He worked hard to keep the sneer out of his voice, but it was too difficult. He’d been catering performances for annoying little brats when they told him to ‘pull colors from your sleeves!’ ‘pick me up! Pick me uuuuuuuup!’ and ‘no, you already did that. Jump off the house!’ There was no end to it. The were just needy little creatures that need to just grow up already. That’s the problem when kids have parents. They get pampered. Or beat, but in that case they’re a different kind of brat. The angsty shits that are almost as bad as the pampered ones, but not quite.

“I’m just saying, you don’t seem like a clown unless you have one. I can get you one, you know. It won’t even cost that much! Think of it as a thank you.” Allen released a glare.

“And why would I take something from a little shit like you? If ya got parents around here I’ll gladly give ‘em a show and take ‘em for all they worth.” The girl looked amused, and Allen decided to ignore the insane child. He went to perform his shows as normal, but throughout the entire day the little girl stayed within his sight, watching.s It wasn’t easy to ignore someone watching you that intently for no known reason. She probably wasn’t there for the show after dissing his entire bag of tricks and invading his living space before he was even ready to look at people as a clown.

Distracted as he was, his performance was less than normal and he received less money at first, but slowly he began to focus. It wasn’t much of a difference, but at least there was a bit more cash coming in.

There was no way he’d allow himself to make a fool of himself (clown act aside) of making less than the person who ran off for some ‘private client’ the way Tyki had. Only half of the day had passed, so he walked over to restaurant areas to give his lunch-time performances. It all but forced people to watch him as their only form of entertainment while they ate boring foods with boring people. When they finished their meals, most would be happy due to food and give him a bit extra. Food opens up the hearts, it would seem.

The brat followed him there as well. At one point during his performance she grabbed some of the balls he had left on the ground and began to juggle with him. She was barely able to do three, but people applauded her efforts.

Allen refrained from killing her for touching his stuff. Instead he forced a grin, thankful that his makeup was placed to look like a constant smile. It really did help to make him seem friendlier, especially with what Tyki and Lavi would call his ‘sour expression’ that always seemed to be worn on his face.

Allen almost skipped a beat in his performance with the thought of Lavi. Either he was being sentimental or someone from the order would be coming around sooner rather than later. No one seemed to notice his mistake, not even the girl that was still obsessively watching him.

She had gotten better with juggling though, even within the small amount of time she’d been learning. There was a chance she’d make a good clown. Allen thought about it for a minute. It would be great to have another person helping with his performances, since it’d open up for a lot of acts. It’s always more impressive for the crowd when there’s two, even though it makes it easier for the performers. 

It was time to start teaching Eeez. There was no way he’d bring the creepy girl into their group, after all. She was already messing with his head, and they hadn't even said more than a couple sentences to each other. Besides, even though Tyki wasn’t the actual leader of the group and Allen would still do whatever he wanted even if Tyki was leader, he would run something like this past the older male. Maybe, just maybe, he respected the man’s opinion at select moments of time.

Allen made up for the lost cash with the girl’s help, even though he didn’t really want her to be anywhere near him after all the mental stress her present put him through. He had to admit she wasn’t a bad kid, per se, but still annoying as all hell. Of course, she seemed to know his opinion changed and got closer, and closer, and closer to him. Not so much physically but with smiles and commentary on the audience and how they looked.

A couple of times Allen would genuinely smile. Small, sure, but there was a smile present on his ‘sour’ face.

Eeez appeared in the crowd and Allen proceed to shut down his show. The kid was probably wanting to grab some food with Allen, since his work day just ended even though Momo and Crack were still in the mines.

Allen gave a short bow to the audience and went around to collect any extra cash people were willing to part with, possibly sneaking an extra bill or two out of their pockets if it seemed they were well off. After stuffing the cash inside his shirt he forced in the props. The girl was already talking to Eeez - how, exactly, she was able to pinpoint the one person in the crowd that Allen knew was beyond him - and Allen walked over to them.

“Oi, brat, stay away from him. Dun want yer creep self ta infect ‘im.”

“Awww, but Mr. Clown, we’re friends! Isn’t that right?” She poked at Eeez’s arm and Allen growled. Eeez responded with a single blink in her direction before pulling on Allen’s sleeve and pointing to a food stand. The lack of vocal response was all Allen needed to receive. Eeez never talks around people he doesn’t know or doesn't trust. Allen wouldn't’ be able to get rid of this girl unless using violence, but with her looking that young and them being in a crowded street, violence would only cause more problems. 

An empty street, on the other hand… No, people would be able to tell from the blood. That would mean they’d have to leave town and Tyki wouldn’t know where they went. Damn.

Allen bought some bread, fruit, and even a bit of meat from the vendor. He payed for everything this time since his shirt was too full to hide anything else in there. That didn't mean he missed Eeez’s semi-discrete movement which swiped a couple of biscuits from a distracted vendor next to the stand they were buying from. 

Allen felt an metaphorical tear slide down his face. The little boy was growing up! He’d have to tell Tyki when the guy gets back. Now it needed to be taught how to act the clown, gamble - Tyki hadn’t taught him how yet, for reasons unknown to Allen - and how to lie. Allen had to get this kid prepared to run for the cops that would definitely be after him in the future. Being able to lie to their faces would only make it better. Even with him being a kid, they won’t go easy on him. Allen had learned from past experiences with them. 

Hopefully, with Allen actually teaching Eeez instead of making him figure everything out on his own, Eeex wouldn’t have to run from the cops. But there was always that possibility that he messed up and then needed that extra bit of help from his mouth. 

Back to the problem of the little brat that was still following them, she was still fucking following them! Allen was not okay with that. At all. She wasn’t hanging onto Eeez anymore, thank whatever good grace Allen managed to have. She was, however, eating some of the food that Allen just paid for.

Why, oh why did murdering a child have to be looked down upon? It could solve almost all of his problems. The rich kids whose money he could take. The parents of the rich kids whose money he took would come after him, and he could take their money. The little children that follow him around after a performance. The little brat that’s following him and just won’t leave. All of it could just disappear.

Damn government authorities. 

Allen’s daydreaming ended with Eeez poking at his arm and pointing at the girl. Allen sighed, resigning to actually talk to the brat and figure out what she wants. Hopefully she’d be willing to talk instead of just tempting him to perform some less desirable tasks. 

“Hey, Allen, who’s the kid?” Momo interrupted before Allen could get a word out. He was dragging a shirt behind him, doing nothing to help the already tattered and dirt covered cloth. Crack followed behind, running a hand through his ever-growing hair. It was almost down to his shoulders, about time for Allen to grab a knife and cut the thing while Crack slept. Maybe he could teach Eeez his ways for this, as well. It would be good practice for not waking up a violent person as they were in light sleep.

Crack wouldn’t kill the kid. Probably.

“Clown, who’s the baldy?” The delusional child clearly didn’t know what a bald person looked like. What Momo was wearing was a hat. Which covered hair. So she’s not just a brat, but an idiot.

“None of yer bloody business. Leave.” There goes the plan to ask why she was stalking him. Oh well.

“Hey, Allen, don’t be a psychotic child-hater.” Momo said with a grin. Allen sneered. It was just what he needed - an annoying stalker child and a tired Momo who didn’t know how to shut his fucking mouth. His patience for the annoying bastard was normally more than this, just not today. In response to his’ irritation, Allen’s normal-looking fist moved forwards in a swinging motion to connect with Momo’s jaw. The poor guy went flying and crashed into a brick wall, crumpling to the ground.

“Dammit.” Allen looked towards Eeez, hoping the poor guy wasn’t scared with Allen’s show of strength. It wasn’t his first time punching someone around the kid, but the rest of the time he wasn’t aiming at a companion. 

The kid was looking a little sideways, head tilted down.

Allen never had to deal with an upset child before. Whenever Eeez was having a problem, it was always Tyki or Momo’s job to help him out. Seeing as Tyki is out of town and Momo is possibly dead, that left the one with the creepy face that scared adults into crying, and Allen who was just a mentally disturbed child himself.

“Oh, come on. Don’t be a little pussy, you brat. It’s just a little knock to the head, he’s probably only a little dead.” The fucking cunt was smiling sadistically. She took out a sharp object - was that a candle - and pressed it delicately to her finger. Blood beaded up at the surface and she smiled, licking the tip of the candle. Then it moved up to Eeez’s neck. 

Allen rushed forwards, trying to knock the girl to the ground. As her hand withdrew, a small cut formed on Eeez’s throat and Allen snarled. The girl dodged his rush, however, as well as the elbow he threw at her retreating face. 

“Hey, it’s not like I did anything bad. He’s still breathing, isn’t he? Just calm down.” Her voice took on a sing-song quality. Allen launched at her, breaking a wall during his attack but missing her entirely. Their game of cat and mouse continued for a while, but Allen did manage to catch the cunt in the end. Of course, there were a couple broken houses and the ground was covered in spider-web cracks with a few extreme indents, but that was far less important than the girl that was currently grinning up at him like she won the grand prize.

With his rage receding to the back of his mind for a little rest, Allen began to notice the absolute destruction he caused. Crack was standing over Eeez, small cuts covering his body.

“Oh, bloody Christ.” Allen whispered to himself, jumping up and scrambling over to the child.

“You good yet, ya brat?” Crack asked, a slight grin overtaken by a grimace as another wave of pain must have hit.

“Yeah, now belt up.” Allen pushed him out of the way, now crouching over the terrified Eeez. A brief image of that one sket from the cult popped into his head. She seemed like a ‘motherly’ type, so if he just copied her, it could all turn out okay.

“Hey, it’s okay. Calm down, I won’t hurt you. Just didn’t want the little bitch around you any longer. Momo’s gonna be fine, I didn’t punch hard enough to kill, no matter how much I wanted the fucker dead. Look, you can even see his finger twitching. Everything’s gonna be fine.” It was close enough to how she acts. Whatever works and all that.

It worked well enough. The bonus about growing up around violence was that this wouldn’t affect one as much as it did other, boring people. That and Eeez knew of Allen’s semi-regular violent outbursts.

“Oooh, I like you. Guess he can keep you around after all, Allen.” The brat was right next to Allen’s face once again, but this time she just started walking away from the destroyed street. Allen stood, offering a hand of assistance to Eeez, who took it and pulled himself up. The four travelers left as well, Eeez holding Allen’s blackened and glove-covered hand and Momo thrown carelessly over Allen’s shoulder. Crack was carrying the material brought back from mining as well as whatever dropped out of Allen’s shirt during the chase.

“She’s scary, Allen.” Eeez whispered, still far too quiet to be fully comfortable. He was talking, though, which means Allen wasn’t fully dead to the boy.

“Yeah, man. I haven’t seen ya freak that much for a while. What she do? Mess with Eeez?”

“Followed me around and messed with my act. Then messed with Eeez.” He snarled, sending a spike of fear down Crack’s spine.

“Holy fucking lord, can’t believe ya held back fer so long. Didn’t you kill that one drunk guy when he almost ruined yer show? Like, ‘m glad ya didn’t do yer nuts and all, no doubts there.”

“Tyki wouldn’t know where we were if someone found out it was me. I ain’t good at killing clean. Let’s just get outta here when Tyki gets his arse back. Bored of this place.” The unconscious Momo let out a soft moan as Allen’s arm tightened around his waist. Allen didn’t loosen his grip.


	8. Secret Names and Annoying Idiots

"Hey, Allen, what are you doing?" Eeez asked. His trainer in the art of Clowning was peering around the corner of a building with a sneer threatening to consume his face. Allen was unresponsive for longer than normal, so Eeez just waited to see what would have his mentor so focused.

An abrupt turn from Allen forced Eeez to stumble. Allen had grabbed him by the arm and hauled him away from the street, face just as sour as it was when he was focused on a problem. Eeez allowed himself to be pulled across crowded streets and shuffle through back passages until they reached the camp.

"Tyki better be getting back today. It's time ta run." Eeez stayed quiet. Tyki had been gone one more day than anticipated, and Eeez feared that Allen would decide to leave the city without him. It's wasn't too far of a fetch, seeing as Allen was a fairly wild soul that didn't care about others half the time. With the way this week was going, it wasn't all that surprising he'd want to get away. First that girl, now whatever it was that pissed him off now.

Leaving would mean Tyki would have to work way harder to figure out where they went. The man could probably do it, but there'd be a fight between the two 'leaders' when he finally caught up, and that's just annoying to deal with. Tyki doesn't tend to give up that easy - contrary to his good-for-nothing appearence - and Allen was far too violent to deal with any crap that Tyki sends his way. Their fight would contain of yelling and a lot of public destruction (all of it caused by Allen).

"Who is it? Are they going to chase you? How do you know them?" Eeez questioned, panicking due to Allen's actions. It was rare for the violent teen to get so off-kilter, and it was making Eeez more talkative than normal. While his natural reflex was normally to fall silent, even he couldn't handle complete quiet around Allen. The teen could be scary as all hell.

"Yeah, I know them. Yeah, they might chase me. No, I don't know exactly who they are. Just that they're from some stupid cult that contained me for a bit before I escaped. Stay away from people in all white, or people in a long black jacket with a cross." He said, still dragging Eeez away. "We're packing and leaving tonight, just after the other two get back from the mines. We'll figure out where to go once we're on a train, got it?"

Eeez nodded and began to walk on his own. Allen's grip on his wrist slowly lessened until it was merely a loose hold. Eeez had no possibility of escaping - if he wanted to, that is - but at least now he had circulation to his fingers.

Allen fit as much of his equipment into his clothing as he could, and only once every space was occupied did he use the white and red sack for the larger objects. A couple things he gave to Eeez to take care of, but it was less important items that could be bought for very little if someone stole it. Allen wouldn't throw it away purposefully, but Eeez wasn't yet experienced enough to keep anything larger and more expensive. It would make for some decent training.

"He's got three hours tops. Crack and Momo should be getting back in one, after that we stalk up on food and grab tickets to get outa here. Ya got everything? Let's grab some cash from a sket."

Allen led them into a crowd. He asked Eeez to pick out a couple of targets, male or female, young or old. Eeez had been learning to pick targets for the last two days and, while his progress was slow for a street rat, it was far better than any sheltered child Allen had ever known. He was protected by Tyki and the others as they travel, so there's a good chance Eeez didn't need to learn how to read people.

It made the learning slower than Allen would have liked, but there was time for improvement. Eeez picked a couple of good targets, and a couple of okay ones. All of them were fairly unguarded, which was a pretty great thing since he'd be able to swipe from them easily. At the same time, a couple of the marks just looked wealthy instead of actually being loaded. Allen would point out that the shiny metal wasn't actual silver or gold, and that the clothes had been worn multiple times. He also pointed out a couple of people who were actually rich while looking the poor-man's part. It was in their stance or gate that showed confidence and a subtle ego.

Anyone who would look around and check their surroundings habitually would make a bad mark for the kid, so that's what Allen taught him first. Saving Eeez from a mistake like that would be better than letting nature teach him. Learning the hard way could break him in more ways than one, and Allen didn't want to risk it.

Allen left the thefts to Eeez, making sure to stay on standby in case something went wrong and the boy needed to be bailed out. All was well for a while, until the boy picked the wrong target.

He looked rich, with the short coat lined with silver and the fancy scarf around his neck. He was clearly a traveler, far different in appearance than anyone else in the crowd. With that red hair sticking out it would be hard to mistake him for anyone else than who he was.

Allen quickly snatched a coat that was passing by, paying very little attention to whether or not the person noticed. Probably not, seeing as the day was so warm and there was a reason the person wasn't wearing it. It was a male's dirty overcoat, far too large for Allen.

It was perfect.

Allen lowered his voice an octave just in case the fucktard remembered what he sounded like.

"Eeez," he grumbled. "Get over here. I need ya to do somethin." Allen's growl felt uncomfortable in his throat, but there was no way he'd let the arse come after him. Eeez blinked uncomfortably before he noticed that, while the jacket the man was wearing was shorter than those that Allen had pointed out previously, it still had the same general patterns and symbols on it.

"Sorry Almir…" Eeez murmured, embarrassed. Allen was thankful the kid remembered what their fake names were for in case someone dangerous was around.

"Not a problem, kid." Allen wanted to limit how many times the redhead heard Eeez's name as much as he possibly could. Using a fake name now would only draw suspicion. "Let's ge' back to the group, then ya can help meh with mah tools." Eeez fell into the familiar motion of trailing behind the teen. He didn't risk glancing back at the red-haired man in case it made him more recognizable.

"Let's get back." Allen whispered once they were out of hearing range from the redhead. "Momo and Crack should arrive soon, and I gotta tell them the plan."

* * *

Lavi watched the retreating backs. Something about that pair was odd. They looked the part of a homeless person perfectly, but there had to be something more. A certain amount of caution when dealing with Lavi was clear, almost like they knew who he was.

Even though people know about exorcists very few common people knew what the coats look like. The two weren't akuma or else they would have attacked him, but that didn't make them any less of a threat.

There was also the body proportions of the older boy (because that's what he is, a boy. The deep voice and old man clothing couldn't fool a bookman's eye) which seemed oddly familiar, no matter how skewed they were. Something about the boy's bone structure and weight distribution was disturbingly similar to someone Lavi had seen before.

Lavi added the teen's gate to his memory, comparing it to all of the other hundreds of people that he had memorized. It wasn't necessarily that of a fighter, but a mixture of fighter and acrobat. Light steps and grace that few people could replicate. His walk was…

Lavi blinked as realization struck him. It was the boy who had been missing for just over a month: Allen Walker. Lavi thought about the teen's voice, removing the unnatural growl and waiting for the tones to flow past his brain. Lavi picked apart each and every syllable to assure what he already knew.

The voices were the same with a 2.3% error since even Lavi's brain wasn't perfect (no matter how much he pretended it was).

Now Lavi had 2 options. One, tell the other exorcist that Allen was in the city and then capture him and bring him back. After that they could work on getting his memories back. Option two, ignore any and all exorcist protocol and follow Allen to see what he does with whatever group he is now apart of. There is also option three, of course, but ignoring his presence is just no fun and therefore not a legitimate option.

"Hey,  _Almir_ ," Lavi shouted with a cheshire grin growing on his features, "Let me talk to you for a bit. If you do I won't tell the others anything!" Allen stopped at the unspoken threat. He motioned for Lavi to follow after a moment's deliberation and a concerned look from the masked child (Eeez?).

Lavi jumped into action and followed the pair through the winding streets. He would catch up with the two and attempt a conversation with Allen and then the kid in turn. There was no progress with either, and his attempt at the kid was cut short by a hard knock to the head.

He laughed it off but made sure not to bug the kid, at least until Allen was less weary of him.

"So, Almir, how have you been? I haven't seen you in a while, Almir. How long was it… a month? More? Man, Almir, you really disappear quick. We've still got people looking for you. Did you know that, Almir?" Allen twitched every time his alias was mentioned and once in awhile would send a hateful glare Lavi's way. He truly was entertaining, but there was some information that Lavi actually wanted to know that Allen hopefully had some insight on.

"Hey, Almir, where's Tim? I haven't seen him around Headquarters since before you went missing. Do you have any clue where he might of went?" Lavi asked. He had been wondering about this for quite a while, even though he only noticed Tim's absence after Allen disappeared.

"I ain't know any Tim, you bastard. Don't be an arse." Lavi sighed. It was just one more unsolved mystery that he was bound to obsess with.

"Well, how have you been? What have you been doing? Come on, man, I need to know all of this! Ever heard the curiosity killed the cat, and satisfaction brought him back? I'm dying, so bring me back!"

"Then die and leave me alone already." Allen grumbled. He waved at two thugs standing in an alley and walked towards them.

"Cornelo, Manelo, we got company." Allen said. "This asshole captured me a few months back and I escaped just before meeting you all. This Johnny-no-stars doesn't care to tell the rest of that cult that I'm here, so we might be fine for a bit. This arse is the reason I wanted to get out so fast."

"Ya know," Lavi started, "I know that those are fake names. Sorry, Allen. You gotta do better than that to trick me." Lavi grinned. He wasn't entirely sure if Allen had changed his name before joining this group, but seeing as the other two had fake names as well (judging by the way they responded slowly it showed they weren't used to being called something else) there was a good chance that Allen was still going by Allen. Most people weren't able to throw names away as easily as Lavi did.

"Ya think I give a bloody fuck? We're stickin with this till ya get yer pomp arse outta my sight." Allen went about collecting what was left of their belongings, shoving some stuff into Cornelo and Manelo's arms. They automatically stuffed whatever could fit underneath their clothing and the rest went into a bag that wrapped around their arm and waist.

"Let's get moving. It's been three hours, so we're gone." The two fake-names looked at each other. It seemed they had pieced together that Allen was running away for Lavi and his group, but they still didn't know the plan. Allen either didn't notice their hesitation or didn't care, knowing that they'd follow him if he got very far ahead.

Little boy Eeez went over beside the longer-haired one and pulled at his sleeve. Cornelo crouched down and listened to the boy, nodding his head in understanding every time Eeez stopped talking. He then relayed it to the Manelo guy. The two were still hesitant but complied with Allen's orders. They probably wanted to wait for the last member of their group.

The group made their way to the train station. People parted their way for Allen, mildly dread caused by Allen. Animal instincts are always a good thing, especially with the aura Allen was putting out.

Allen was buying tickets with money Lavi didn't think he'd have while his friends were standing off to the side by a pole. Lavi debated following Allen to make sure he didn't escape or staying with the friends and learning more about what had happened after Allen disappeared. He doubted the guys would talk, though. They seemed pretty tight lipped for a pair of thug-types. Neither had blabbed a word on the entire trip over, and that kid might as well have been mute with the amount of responses he'd given.

He might be able to charm something out of them, though. So there was that.

Lavi switched into his 32nd personality that he had to use when getting into wealthy events. Christopher was the love interest of a princess in Thailand who started out rejected by all of the girl's family and subjects before working his way in deeper to their minds than they thought possible. His death was such a sad moment for the country.

Moving on from that unbearably boring time, he just had to charm his way into the minds of Allen's ragtag group and find all of the information he needed before deciding what to do and what to report to the old panda. Allen seemed to be a very important piece in the future of history and had to be watched, so panda had to get a bookman on him to record.

"Oho, who's this with you all? Not replacing me, I hope." A crazy and clearly homeless man said, walking towards the group. Lavi almost thought he might be talking to someone else until Eeez ran up to him and latched onto his leg.

"Taavi, this man knows Allen from his past," Manelo said. "He's been following us since seeing Allen during his practice." The man's eyes lit up in understanding. Obviously this was another fake name created by the group to keep their identities a secret. The good side was that there was another person to get information out of.

"Hello, Taavi, I'm Lavi. I guess it'll get a bit confusing about who's who for a while, huh? Well, that's fine. I just came to see how Allen was doing. When he went missing I was pretty worried, you see. His mind isn't always the calmest, and he might accidentally cause trouble to people around him, if you know what I mean." Lavi grinned in a charmingly crooked way. He'd managed to get girls to swoon over him with that attitude, and even a few males softened up. None of them swooned, though, which was disappointing. That needed personality number 23's skills.

"Ah, yes. He does enjoy his fighting, doesn't he? If I wasn't here to keep him in line all the time I swear he would end up destroying an alleyway, maybe even killing someone! You never know, do ya?" The man's manner of speaking was far different from what Lavi was expecting. He was surprisingly formal for someone who lived on the streets, even charming.

Lavi didn't fail to notice the looks from Taavi's group. Some were amused, some less so.

"Oh, no. What'd that brat do this time, huh? Don't tell me actually offed someone." Tyki groaned. Momo pointed to his bruised jaw and grinned, then Crack pulled up his sleeves and showed all of the still healing cuts covering his arms. "That damn brat. I swear. An eight-year-old in a teen's body. Did he manage to kill the poor bastard?"

Crack shook his head 'no'. "The kid got away after putting up a hell of a fight. I bet she's was just messin' around with 'im. Eeez's age, ya know?" Lavi could have sworn this Taavi guy knew what little girl they were talking about but didn't voice anything.

"That so. Guess she's from the circe too, huh? No normal brat or even grown person would be able ta go against 'im. Remember that one time when he got all pissy at me for trying to-"

"Ya piece of shit, what're you doing here? I was 'bout ta leave ya fer good." The white headed child shouted out.

"Ah, damn. He's pissed. Well, ya getta see what happened last time, I guess." Taavi said with a forced grin. He waved at the teen and carefully situated himself behind Eeez. "Hey, buddy, you'll protect me, right? I mean, Allen wouldn't hurt you. Well, you could always just let us fight like last time, but I thought you didn't like-"

Eeez held up a hand to stop Allen from advancing on the portuguese. Allen growled and continued walking forward, yanking Taavi down to his level. "The next time," he started, "You say that you're gonna be gone fer a week, keep it at a bloody week. I ain't got time ta deal with yer shit with these fuckin' cult members walkin' around. Ya got me?" When Taavi didn't answer right away, Allen jerked him down once more.

"Ah, ah, whatever you say, boy. I'll make sure to finish my jobs early! Don't worry, don't worry!" Allen continued to glare, but he let Taavi go for the time being.

The train rolled into the station at that precise moment, saving Taavi from any more bodily harm. Allen released him and Lavi debated telling the boy a fairly important fact that he'd probably want to know.

It just so happened that the train Allen's group was planning to board was the exact same one that the exorcists were gonna hop onto. While Allen was still distracted with Taavi, the exorcists had gotten to where the train would board and were waiting patiently for it to come to a full stop. Allen was still distracted by the focus he was putting on Taavi that he didn't notice, nor did he notice Lavi silently slip away. The one who seemed to be the most perceptive of the group, Eeez, was paying more attention to the possibility of Allen and Taavi arguing.

So the exorcists got on without anyone being the wiser, and Lavi left Allen's group to join the exorcist. He had an idea that the panda just might be interested in.


	9. Hypothesis of Crack and Momo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So... sorry I'm late. There just isn't a muse...

"Um, Allen, there's a problem. Those people that you wanted to avoid are on the train. In the front." Eeez whispered for only Allen to hear. It didn't matter how quiet he was, though. Everyone else in the cart were able to tell something royally pissed the albino off. The people who knew he was running from a group of freaks were able to piece together the clues and figure it out in their minds.

Crack and Momo's skin turned a shade whiter. Complete and absolute destruction was not something they enjoyed, no matter what people thought of them because of their appearance.

Tyki could guess after hearing all of Allen's stories as well as seeing the redheaded exorcist talking with his group.

Allen all but jumped out of his seat, ready to charge into the next cart in front of them until he found the bastards he was searching for, but Tyki was the one to stop him. The man who could be thought of as his conscience was once again doing his job, stopping the hot headed teen from tearing apart the people who pissed him off and possibly getting caught by them in the process.

"Let's just wait until the next station. If they decide to get off of the train car, we stay on. If they stay on, we get off. Keep the damage minimal, 'kay?" The crazy-looking man asked. He didn't technically need to get permission, but with Allen in this state, being commanding would only cause a multitude of problems.

That, and a nice little thing for the cult members to play with was heading their way. He knew there was a chance of Allen figuring some stuff out that Tyki would rather keep in the dark for a while longer, but he wasn't the one in charge of the akuma. If the Earl was sending some this way, Tyki was not responsible for what happened to anyone on the train, including his group. Tyki might love humans, but they were all expendable in the grand scheme of things.

Allen anchored himself into the seat, hoping it depicted just how much he didn't like waiting. Eeez decided to go up to the front car when the cult members were housed. He was going to report on whether they were getting off at the next station or not. Crack and Momo were sitting quietly and hoping the frustrated Allen didn't notice them enough to release his frustrations on them.

Even when the train jerked, almost falling off the track, Allen didn't change his positioning. The others freaked out and jumped out of their chairs. Momo ran towards the front car to check on Eeez before the others could react, and Tyki waved his hand in front of Allen's face to see if there was a reaction of any sort. They boy needed to leave his trance in order to survive the attack.

Allen almost bit off the man's hand, but he was definitely responsive. The sudden change in movement from before merely didn't affect him at all.

"What you doin?" Allen growled. Tyki placed his hands above his head to appease the angry albino.

"Hey, just wanted to make sure you were still alive in there, ya know?" Tyki grinned, his glasses blocking any of his true enjoyment from view. It was time for those cult members to get destroyed by an akuma. Maybe Allen's arm will come to life again so Tyki can see what it's like. Maybe he won't have to kill the boy due to the Earl's orders. Unlikely, of course. But this kid was fun, and it's not a crime to hope.

Screaming interrupted whatever it was that Allen was planning to say. The group looked around as people streamed out of the train. Allen followed the crowd, hoping that he'd be able to find Eeez at the very least. Momo was still wandering around in panic, so he hadn't yet found the child. A redhead, however, was walking in Allen's direction. The hand attached to the brainless figure waved Allen over.

He contemplated following the redhead's silent instructions or not, just in case the guy knew what was happening or where Eeez was. Dealing with the cult member was just too much work and would take too much precious time, though. Right before he turned away, however, Allen caught sight of Eeez's dusty blond hair traveling next to the redhead's black outfit.

Reevaluating his former options, Allen walked over to where the two were. The thick crowds made it mildly difficult for any sort of movement, especially with the scrambling most of the people were doing. He made it eventually, and Eeez automatically latched onto his pant leg. Allen dropped a hand onto the boy's shoulder as a comfort. He turned his eyes to Lavi, a mild glare in place.

"Yer still a arse, ya know." He growled. Lavi grinned and made a gesture of acceptance.

"I know, I know. Just thought I'd help you out a bit. I do plan on staying with you for a while." His grin grew at the sight of Allen's angry confusion. "We should probably get you out of here for a bit, though. I don't think Eeez will appreciate seeing what's about to happen. Do you remember those akuma I told you about? Well, they're here and I don't know if you're able to activate your innocence quite yet. Wouldn't want the kid to get hurt because you aren't able to defend him, you know. Might want to head back to your little group of friends. You're the only one with the ability to fight these things. Even if you can't activate it on purpose, you can still be the last line of defence for them."

Lavi successfully distracted Allen from his first statement, instead leading to an anger about being all but forced to do what Lavi said. Allen still didn't understand what was happening with everything. First the train is attacked, now there's cult members running around and fighting an odd creature with one of those wrapped humans floating above it. There were a couple more creatures flying around, and now Lavi had a giant hammer in his hand and he too was flying across the sky.

Eeez pulled on Allen's sleeve, drawing his attention from the chaos that surrounded them. "Allen, are we going yet?" He asked quietly. The boy cast a longing glance back at where Tyki, Momo and Crack had gathered.

"Yeah, let's go." Allen shuffled through the crowd, this time dragging Eeez with him.

Eeez took a seat beside a broken train cart. The wheel had fallen off, leaving the wood reaching all the way to the ground. It made a nice hiding place and hopefully would give some protection from the creatures, even if just a little. Allen emptied out the heavier things inside of his shirt and placed them next to Eeez, making sure Momo and Crack sat down next to them as well.

Extra protection was always welcome.

Allen kept the money and cloth inside of his shirt. Money wasn't something he'd let anyone else defend, and the cloth was thick enough and could protect his skin from being stabbed by any coins that might break into sharp fragments during fighting.

Tyki seemed to be standing guard as Allen went through the process of organizing and preparing for battle. Allen hadn't a clue what Tyki thought he might be able to do against the creatures, and standing in the open like that would only draw attention to them. However, no creatures came to kill them, so Allen let it go in favor of attempting to summon that white claw that replaced his red arm.

Nothing happened. Of course, Allen expected that it wouldn't be so easy.

Tyki withdrew into the hiding place and allowed Eeez to curl up next to him for protection. Allen stepped towards the edge of their hiding place so if something came to attack, he would be the first line of defence.

"Allen, please come back here…" Eeez whispered after Allen had been standing in the open for a minute. Allen turned his head slightly to see Eeez in a crouch, prepared to stand and draw Allen back to safety. The albino gave his young friend a soft smile and a silent no, before turning back to look out at the chaos.

Just in time for a claw to slash through his eye.

"BLOODY HELL!" He shouted, holding his bleeding eye with his right hand. Without his notice, the red left arm turned a shining white and slashed through the creature who attacked him.

"ALLEN!" His group screamed, and he briefly saw Tyki holding Eeez back from rushing to Allen's side. The creature who attacked him was still alive, and it still needed to be defeated before Eeez and the others could be safe. Allen would keep them safe. With a roar, he jumped forwards with a strength he didn't know he possessed and ripped the head off of the creature.

He calmly returned to the safe spot, cursing under his breath about how much his eye currently was hurting and how much pain those cult members would go through the next time he saw them. It had to be their fault that these creatures were here, after all.

"Allen," Tyki said, intervening in Allen's rant. "I think you should sit down for a bit. I'll look at your eye to see if anything can be done to help it." Tyki was answered with a growl. Allen continued to stand guard, just a little farther into the space than before. Drawing attention was not his goal, even if it would make him feel better to rip apart more of those creatures as an act of vengeance.

It wouldn't do to have more than two of them attacking him at once, since even Allen wasn't confident in his abilities to defend four targets plus himself. Divided attention was not the best thing and at some point the other four would become a distraction that he'd have to cut loose to survive.

Well, probably not Eeez, but the others were just expendable background characters. If Tyki felt like protecting them, he could do that himself. Allen wouldn't help any of those three if he got overwhelmed and had to escape.

As predicted, two more of the creatures came to attack him during the chaos. They came in turns, so Allen's struggle didn't increase to exponential proportions. The first one managed to cut Allen's left arm, which was now bleeding heavily. He had accepted Tyki's offer to get a wrap around it to stop the bleeding, but anything more than that would take up time he just didn't have.

The fourth creature to reach their hideout was less monstrous than the others, but far more annoying.

"Wow, Allen, how'd you let them get after you that much? Really, I thought you were better at fighting than just this!" The red in Allen's vision was, sadly, not caused entirely by the blood in his eyes. Lavi just had to appear in the place they had taken shelter to piss him off for no apparent reason. In retaliation to the annoyance that Allen was feeling, he kicked the cult member square in the chest before sitting up against the broken cart.

Eeez brought a small amount of water that they had taken with them in a beaten up, discarded flask. Allen took a quick drink before dumping the rest on his eye and arm. Even if it didn't wash away any infection (which he doubted it would) they would at least be able to see what they were dealing with. Lavi hissed in sympathy before drawing closer to get a closer examination of the wound. Allen slapped his offending hand away.

"I'm fine, you arse. Will ya leave now? Bet yer cult members are in bad shape, too." Lavi patted down the teen's white hair.

"Calm yourself, little one." Tyki was laughing his ass off with Lavi's comment. "I don't plan on leaving any time soon. I got it cleared with Panda, and he said it would be perfectly fine for me to travel with you guys for a bit. You know, to record your history. Can't let such an important piece go unmonitored. I'm sure you understand. I wasn't expecting I would be the one to record yours, though."

"So what, yer leaving the cult to piss me off forever? Why don't ya get yer arse back to 'em and leave me alone. No one wants ya here." Allen spoke groggily, the blood loss evident in his speech. He wasn't able to come up with any good insults.

Eeez noticed how Allen's body temperature was slowly dropping, so he curled up next to the giant child. Tyki rummaged around for some blankets to cover the boys with while Crack and Momo searched for some method of transportation that wasn't yet destroyed.

"You, boy." Tyki called out quietly, careful not to disturb Allen and Eeez's rest. "That coat gives ya a ton of luxuries, yeah? Well, get rid o' it. Draws attention we don't need. Put this on instead." Lavi was handed one of Crack's shirts. It was a little big for him, but Crack was the shortest of the adults, as well as being as lanky as Lavi. "Just toss that somewhere. No good to bring it with us, even with all the perks."

The group was on the road a couple hours later. Eeez walked next to Tyki, careful to keep ahold of Tyki's shirt. Tyki had managed to bundle Allen up and carry the boy in his arms despite Allen's teenage body. It didn't even seem to strain the man for the amount of time they'd been walking. Lavi was the only one surprised by this fact.

Momo decided to briefly explain Tyki's strength to the confused redhead, if it could be called a description.

"Don't think about it too much, it'll just give you a headache. Trust me, I've tried. That guy is able to go on par with Allen's fighting methods and can carry more rock than Crack and I combined. But his arm's aren't even hard to the touch." Lavi questioned Momo's speech pattern in his head, but finally chalked it up to just another odd thing about this group.

"He must not be a normal human, then. The only reason Allen is as strong as he is would be because of the training General Cross forced him through. Tyki had to have gone through some harsh training to be able to draw so much power from his muscles with less effort. Maybe he knows the way to structure support to minimize strength needed when lifting. But that doesn't explain how he could carry Allen while walking for long periods of time. That would force the pressures in his back to constantly be changing, and the changing of muscles exerts energy that would wear him down with the extra weight, it doesn't matter how much support he's getting from bone and muscle placement. He's fighting gravity on an unstable surface..."

Lavi continued his incoherent muttering while Crack and Momo let it flow past them.

"This guy's crazy. Tyki obviously has been given superpowers by physicians." Momo whispered. Crack shielded his eyes from the muttering that slowly turned darker and harder to understand.

"Hey, Momo, ya think 'es gonna summon a demon 'r what?" Crack shivered, anything having to do with the occult still terrified him. "Ya know, I dun' wan' him a travel with us, agree?"

"Yeah, but there's nothing we can do about that. If Allen decided the guy can stay, I think we're stuck with him. Then again, Allen really seems to dislike this guy. Keeps calling him a cult member. But that doesn't mean anything, Crack! Don't worry about it so much. You know it's just an insult… probably."

"Than wha' was with all them flyin' creatures an' the big ol' hammer this guy 'ad?" Crack shuttered again. Momo felt bad for the guy; there really was no other explanation for what they had just seen only four hours ago. Momo settled for patting the poor guy on the shoulder.

"We'll get through this. Allen might explain what the heck is going on, and maybe the redhead will help him. This guy seems to know about Allen's past, after all. Remember what he said about Allen's training? Well, the brat doesn't remember any of that, but he had to have done something to get this strong. The redhead is completely off with Tyki's abilities - experiments makes so much more sense - but Allen has the muscle and we see him working out. That's something he got through training, and not by living in the circus. We should at least deal with this guy for a bit."

Crack didn't object, but at the same time he didn't agree. Momo took that as an 'okay, but I don't have to like it'. They let the subject drop, and Momo offered to carry Eeez on his back. Eeez initially responded with a 'no' and saying how he'll keep watch while Allen is sleeping, but after a few minutes the boy was asleep on his feet and didn't even object as Momo lifted him off the ground. Momo's portion of the luggage that Allen normally carried was distributed between Crack and Lavi. The former obtained only the less important stuff.

"Do you think Allen will be okay?" Eeez muttered into Momo's ear. His voice lulled at points as he drifted in and out of sleep while speaking. "He's strong, so he'll be fine. Right? Will…. His eye be okay?" Momo refrained from answering. The boy would be asleep soon enough, and there was no reason for Momo to give him any false hopes. Lavi had patched up the eye as good as he could, but even he had no clue what would happen. He had mentioned something about a curse that could mess with normal science and the healing process, but Momo had no desire to know more about what the crazy man was talking about.

Momo glanced over at Allen who was mumbling incoherent garble.

He looked so confused, even in his passed out state.

...

"You really aren't who I expected you to be… do you respond to Allen, little one?" Allen blinked slowly, lifting out of his drowsy state. There was a man in front of him with short black hair and gray skin. He was smiling. Allen felt the oddest urge to smile back at him, but refrained.

"Oi, fucked up Tyki, quit yer grinnin." Allen said once he was able to complain what this guy looked like to how Tyki was without his stupid glasses. The hairstyle was different, but the face shape was spot on. He really did look like Tyki's clone, only more sophisticated.

Allen does not like sophisticated people. They make him want to barf.

"My name ain't Allen, bastard. Don't call me nothin an' just leave." Allen leaned back against the fancy chair he was sitting on, just noticing that it was more comfy than most walls he's leaned against. The man's eyebrow raised a fraction, most likely surprised by Allen's attitude.

"Well, it would seem Cross did not do his job properly. Little boy, I am Neah, the 14th Noah. I'm hear to stop the madness running rampant in you and the Earl." He gazed down at the short boy. The red hair was unexpected, but having a kid at the age of approximately 8 definitely put a hitch in his plans. Allen was meant to be around 40 by the time of Neah's awakening.

He also shouldn't have the curse mark on his eye.

Neah looked around the boy's mindscape, noticing little fragments of memories that weren't connected to anything in particular. From the looks of it, this boy had at least three different lives all locked up in his head. It was like he had been reborn at random points of his life, which led to Neah's awakening being accelerated.

His revival didn't feel forced, but more of a gradual and welcomed event.

The child started ignoring Neah in favor of looking around. "What's the lady-man doing here? And why's it floating? Hey, it's the only guy with the dog!" Allen jumped up with all of his childish excitement, scrambling over to the fragmented memory. "Didn't the dog die? Cosimov beat him to death… yeah. So is this just a memory?"

Neah didn't speak, just watched as the boy slowly formed a chain of fragments together. Fixing his own memory would help Neah figure out what, exactly, was going on. With every mark Allen made on a fragment, by touching it or commenting on it, the fragment would slowly drift next to another, just barely overlapping with the other fragments. One of the 'lives' of this boy slowly formed, though it was more coherent than the other two. It was a young boy that looked similar to this child, just without the curse mark and with more bruises.

Another picture was forming, creating a person who looked closer to how Neah remembered Allen. The only difference was the age and, once again, the curse mark.

The boy disappeared in a sudden flash of light and a fifth of the fragments lit up with the same brightness. They strung themselves together faster than the first picture did, and Neah watched the second picture finish forming at a rapid pace. In place of the boy from the first picture, the one with red hair, a teenager lay on the ground. His hair was white, a perfect match to the picture.


	10. (Sorta) Accepting someone new

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remembering leads to shitty headaches, and red headed bastards don't make it any better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Crisis everyone! And Happy everything else! It's a holiday miracle for this chapter to get out, or something like that. No school for a week, so maybe there'll be another coming sometime in the near future. Or I'll be working on a DGM AssClass crossover that might come up at some point. There's, like, 4 chapters written for it so far...

“Well, kid, how you feelin?” Neah asked once Allen was able to regain his bearings after the sudden onslaught of information. He could remember his time with Cross, with the exorcist, and the death of Mana Walker. He remembered meeting the crazy clown called the Millennium Earl, and the second death of Mana Walker. There was being attacked by Kanda, who thought he was an akuma thanks to that stupid gate, and he remembered the flying ball with wings called Timcanpy. 

“Like shit.” All of those memories, and Allen just discovered how boring his life was. How, exactly, he was able to fall into such a stupid routine after some weird guy died and was later killed by his own hand (claw?) was beyond him. Whoever he was after changing from ‘Red’ to ‘Allen’ was an idiot that forgot everything that he was supposed to have learned from being on the street. For example, getting attached to someone like that insane man. He was treated like a dog most of the time, only there to follow and obey without speaking or resistance. The crazy man even confused him as the dog and would teach him tricks.

The time of ‘Allen’ was over. No more being nice to everyone, no more following those rules set by the damn cult and that Cross bastard. Then again, the time of that ‘Allen’ was done by the time that ‘Red’ took over right after the first ‘Allen’ had gotten memory loss. Thank the non-existent gods that an akuma decided to attack with their mind. Would it actually be thank the Earl, since he was the one to send the akuma?

Revise all of that, Allen didn’t want to thank anyone. No one deserved it.

There was still the creepy guy standing in front of him with his gray skin and golden eyes. And a confused look, which Allen was proud of. The guy seemed to have one giant ass ego with a violent streak, so Allen took it as a win to be able to force the guy to concede his control. 

“Well, you’re still different from before, huh? What should we do about that. You wouldn’t just let me take control now, would you?” Neah asked with a smug smirk on his face. Allen couldn’t help but attempt a punch in his direction. He missed, but the annoyance quelled to the point where Allen was able to hold a small conversation.

“Ya see, I ain’t know what I was like ‘before’, so ya better get that in ya big head. I also don’ know what ya mean by takin’ control, but that ain’t happenin. No, instead yer gonna tell me what the hell is with that other broken picture and explain who ya are. I’m betten this place is my mind, so why you in it?” 

“You seem to be accepting the fact that there’s a person in your mind rather well.” Allen leveled him with a glare.

“Well, this ain’t the weirdest thing that’s happened to me over the past month. Try livin with and runnin from a cult. It’s worse.” Neah let the talk of a cult wash over him. Allen seemed to be referencing to exorcist as a cult when he internally monologues, so though Neah was still unsure what they did to deserve this title, there was no confusion over the implied meaning.

“Well, you are still one odd little man, aren’t you. I guess that’s something that’s never changed over the years. Most people are unable to come to terms with these developments so easily.” Neah thought of the people who’d gone crazy when a Noah was attempting to take control of their body. There had been a few people who managed to resist the takeover, but those would end up committing suicide mere days later. As they should, since they fought against an apostle. 

“I’ve dealt with crazy people before. It was only a matter of time before it was my turn.” Take Mana for example. Allen of the past clearly didn’t look to be a dog, yet was treated as one. Then again, if he acted like a dog, what was the difference? Allen of the present wasn’t able to comprehend how he could be reduced to the memory of a dog beaten to death. Allen of the past was a wimp.

Back to the main subject, insanity. There were the circus people, some who had delusions of seeing the future, or turning into a bird. There was Mana, who was also a circus person. There was Cross whose need for physical contact pushed at the borders of being a psychological disorder (really, what was with all those women? Did his mother leave him as a child to an abusive father that locked him in a crate for days on end? That would actually make sense…), and all the other people from the cult. Kamui (aka brother complex who must have been terrified of losing his sister to the point that any amount of time away from her instilled deep terror), Kanda (extreme need to stay away from people, must have lost a close friend to some sort of torture method that only he escaped from. Was that called survivor’s guilt?), and Lavi (inability to truly grow close to someone. Probably was trained to leave as soon as he began to feel any attachment to human life, and decided it was easier to stay away no matter what so he’d never be hurt again) were a couple of good examples.

So yes, Allen dealt with many crazy people during the two ‘lives’ that he could remember, one as Red and one as Allen. If only he knew about the third life.

Wait, that’d just be annoying. The person from before had nothing to do with the person he is now. No point in learning the past of a dead man.

“And yet you are not crazy, for I truly exist. It is time for me to be re-introduced into this world. So, little boy, just let go so I can have my way.”

“Ya know, yer a pervert. Worse than Cross, since he’d never say that to a kid. Guess you’re just deprived.” If Neah was affected, he didn’t show it. At all. Allen was a little disappointed. Most of the time when he pulled that card against an older person, especially a male, it would either make them leave him alone or attack him in a fit of rage. Either was good, since he’d be left alone or would have an easier time beating them up.

Not that it would be hard anymore, since Cross’ stupid training that he could now remember. Wait, does that mean he’ll have to tell Lavi that he could remember being the stupid ass Allen Walker and have to deal with the brat’s excitement? 

“No, child, Cross is definitely worse. I don’t can for such contact with humans.” Allen didn’t care enough to hear what the man was saying, paying more attention to the feeling of his body growing heavier. Was he waking up? Allen had never gone through such an experience before, but he could remember that when he was in pain the last time to the point he was about to pass out, his body felt very light before being hit with all the pain later on.

Well, it was time for him to leave, it would seem. With a kind-hearted middle finger as a farewell, Allen slipped into consciousness.

 

“So what, you guys just sit around empty buildings and under bridges until you find a job? How do you even find food?” Lavi asked the group, still being responded with silence. Tyki fell asleep after carrying Allen for over five hours, but the rest of the group was awake. Eeez hadn’t said anything to anyone the entire time after he woke up, and the other two continued to send Lavi suspicious glances. One of them even seemed scared of him, which Lavi obviously didn’t deserve.

At least, he didn’t think so. Allen might have told them something about him, possibly that he was an exorcist. Most people would think that was a good thing, but this guy obviously didn’t. Probably thought Lavi would bring some sort of hocus pocus with him. The guy wasn’t necessarily wrong, considering Lavi still had his size-changing hammer.

“Allen.” Eeez whispered from Lavi’s side. The kid got up from his sitting position and crawled the couple of feet that was between Allen and him. Lavi didn’t know what the kid was doing, since there was absolutely no different in Allen’s former state of passed out. When Allen groaned a moment later, Lavi was caught by surprise. He looked at the kid, wondering how such a brat would be able to sense Allen’s awakening before a bookman could. Even though he was still considered a bookman in training, that should still be an impossible task.

“You’re still here?” Allen asked without opening his eyes. Lavi couldn’t help but assume the boy was talking to him, which was further confirmed by the silver eyes opening a moment later to focus on Lavi.

“Ah, yeah, didn’t I say so? I mean, I couldn’t just leave the little beansprout on his own forever. Also, Bookman says you’re an important part of history, so of course I’m gonna follow you! I mean, since you aren’t one of the exorcists anymore, we can’t have both of us following the exorcist and only getting part of the history.”

“Ya know, I hate yer arse, along with that cult’s. Ya follow, ya carry yer own weight or Tyki and I’ll cut ya loose. Till then, stay out of our way and earn yer self some cash, cause we ain’t feedin’ ya.” Tyki looked at Allen, clear question on his face. Why Allen was being so kind to Lavi was a complete mystery, seeing his normal attitude to people was far more unpleasant. Violent, even.

He stored the information away to bring up later when the others weren’t around anymore. He briefly noticed Lavi doing the same. The kid made a good bookman, though the personality was excessive. A silent follower was far more like what he would expect, seeing as that’s how his inner Noah remembered the bookman that would follow him.

Tyki blocked the thoughts of his Noah before it tried to take control again. He’d never fallen to the violent rage before, and he never planned to stop fighting against it. Part of his pleasure came from being human, and that would all be lost with the Noah taking over. It just went against his current personality, as well as the one he kept at bay. 

“Well, what do you guys do when getting cash? Working in stores? Begging?” Momo grinned, a sharp edge taking over the normally soft smirk. 

“Oh no, boyo. It’s a whole world worse. Unless ya can gain a job that pays daily, or you’re real good at beggin, what you need is hard labor. Us, we got the mines.” He gestured to Crack and Tyki. “They draw in a crowd and take ‘em for all they’re worth. Circus tricks.” The others also smirked, and Allen’s eyes seemed to play through the hell that Lavi would have to go through just for being part of their group. “Welcome to the street.”

Lavi groaned and left the camp out area. Assuming what these guys were saying was true and it really is that hard to get a job without Bookman’s help, he’d better start searching. 

Allen and Eeez started to prepare their act, emptying their clothes of unneeded objects and filling them with props. Crack, Momo and Tyki headed out to search for the mining yard. There was supposed to be one in this town, but there was always a chance that they accidently missed it since they were walking from a crash site. Locations were being approximated. 

“Allen, why are you different now?” Eeez asked just before they headed out. Allen silently thought about how to answer that. Even though the entire group knew he lost his memories, that didn’t mean he wanted them to think of him as someone different. 

“I remembered some stuff. Won’t be leavin’ any time soon. Those cult members were worse than I though’ they were.” Ah, the pain that former Allen went through under the reign of Cross. He deserved it, of course, for being such a needy brat for however long it took for him to get out of that stupid comatose state. Besides, going from one deluded master to another that was more violent and more perverted was not considered improvement. However, that brat passed all of Cross’ mental torture from the debts onto the current Allen, and that was unacceptable. 

Eeez didn’t need to know any of this, though. 

“Let’s get goin’ already. We got cash ta make. How long has it been since ya ate, huh? I bet everyone was too worried ‘bout useless shit ta take care of ya.” Eeex shook his head, disagreeing with Allen’s assumptions.

“Momo make sure I was fine. But the others were worried about you or what to do with the other guy. Are we going to get rid of him, Allen? He creeps Momo out.” The boy grabbed onto Allen’s pant legs as they traveled amongst a thick crowd. It would be too easy for the boy to get lost, and Allen didn’t want to risk Eeez being captured by someone with less than pure intents. He picked the boy up and tossed him onto Allen’s shoulders. Eeez wasn’t expecting this change, but he settled in after a couple moments of curiosity.

Allen noted this was a different action than what he normally would have done, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. The useless Allen was still affecting him, but if it protected Eeez than that way of thinking couldn’t be too bad. For a while, at least.

“We can try to lose him, but the Bookmen are known for being able to trail their targets no matter the circumstance. From what I can remember, Lavi is still in training but with him being released by Bookman, he must be up to par.” Eeez knocked Allen on the head, forcing the white-hair to realize his mistake.

Talking in a more educated way, like someone who didn’t grow up around street rats and circus freaks. Like someone who was taught to be a gentleman and use words that fewer people would be able to comprehend. That wasn’t like Allen. Not the current one.

“We won’t be able to lose him.” Allen rephrased. Eeez nodded and sat quietly while Allen maneuvered through the crowds. The two were already in their costumes and drawing attention from travelers and locals alike. Even among the normal street performers, Allen and Eeez were an odd pair. Though Allen was careful to cover up his scar with face paint so people wouldn’t think of him as a devil worshiper, there was still his white hair. In addition, clowns were less popular as performers in this area of the world. Eeez was no better with his mask constantly in place over his mouth.

The day passed quickly, with Allen barely paying attention to his actions yet still collecting the same amount of income as they did in other cities. He allowed his mind to wander to the odd person residing in his mind. A Tyki outside in the physical world, and an even more annoying version of him constantly able to bug Allen would mean double the irritation emanating from Allen, in turn causing Tyki what could be a lot of pain.

There was also Lavi to take it out on, which would be far more entertaining for the entire group. Allen just might forgo the physical abuse on Tyki, instead taking it out on the true pest that had entered his life once again.

Allen’s attention was jerked away from his thoughts, his focus drawn to a kid running around outside of some building. The kid had a bandana covering his forehead, and there was an older male next to him. The elder looked nearly identical to the boy, same hair style and face shape. Allen assumed the man to be the kid’s dad, but that didn’t fit for some reason.

Allen felt the distinct urge to punch the man in his face. His formal clothing, which Allen assumed to be traditional Japanese clothing. He’d seen it a couple of times during traveling, and Tyki enjoyed pointing out what style was from where. He settled for glaring in the man’s direction for a while until Eeez drew his attention. It was time for them to head back to the group.

Tyki bumped into them on their way back, and Allen glared at him for his position on the hard earth. His glare intensified when laughter could be heard from Eeez in addition to other onlookers. 

“Sorry, shortie. Didn’t see ya there. Ya should try an’ grow, huh? Don’t wanna cause problems ta other people now.” Allen bit back a retort at his height Arguing with stupid would only lead to stupid. He learned that when dealing with Kanda.

“Hey moyashi! Looks like I got a job, how ya like that? An actual job, not some street performance act like you do.” Lavi grinned, all teeth, and Allen automatically knew that the redhead hated what he had to do. It probably didn’t pay well, either.

“That bad, huh? Good. Bet you made even less than them in the mines.”

“How’d you know, huh brat?” Lavi truly wanted to know, since Allen from before didn’t seem to pick up on Lavi’s hidden meanings. Being a dishwasher at a place that cooked greasy food wasn’t exactly what he was hoping for, but all of the jobs requiring talking to people or dealing with facts weren’t open, or weren’t willing to hire him. They didn’t even give a reason most of the time.

“You’re a teen that looks odd, is charismatic, and can’t give them a reference or family. Even I’d think you’re a runaway criminal looking to rob them. Especially since you wanna be paid at the end of every day. Like I said, good luck. The mines and the streets are the only ones that don’t care about your background.” Lavi pouted. This wasn’t the sort of knowledge Bookman would share with him, since it wasn’t useful to the history of the world. Small aspects such as these were useless.

“Whatever. Let’s see the cash, boys.” Momo said before Allen could destroy Lavi’s confidence using words. It had happened before, though the victim wasn’t Lavi but a random stranger that thought he was smarter than Allen.

Lavi by far had the least, but it was enough for one, maybe two meals if he rationed it properly. 

“Looks like you get to eat, kid. Congrats, you really are able to travel with us. Now ya just gotta find a better job, cause we ain’t payin for yer train ticket, and if ya get caught sneaking on I ain’t gonna help ya. Allen probably won’t either, and don’t you dare bother Eeez.” Everyone nodded in agreement. It was already an unspoken rule for Lavi not to talk to Crack before the guy was able to think Lavi as separate from the cult.

Lavi didn’t seem bothered by their opinions, but he did get distracted by something on the rooftops. Allen followed the redhead’s gaze to two figures. One in an odd alien costume with some crazy big eye, and the other had the same form as that one guy Allen had seen earlier in the day. It seemed like a good enough person to take his annoyance out on, even though Lavi was the second best.

He resisted, however. By all appearances, the pair must be going to steal something. Who was Allen to get in the way of a couple people annoying a couple more. Besides, the second best was still right here, and Allen didn’t have to chase before the kill. Metaphorical, possibly, but still accurate.


	11. Ghosts and Vampires to help fuck things up

Allen just had the best of luck. He’d been going after Lavi, who managed to stay out of his reach for a decent amount of time after dropping one of Allen’s best props and breaking it, which was odd seeing as the thing was metal. Of course, Allen never was so careless with his things, and had never dropped it on accident before. The metal could have just been poorly made. Either way, the thing drew attention from crowds, and Lavi busted it.

So now, as was the laws of nature, Allen was going to kill him. The brat had been messing with the rest of the group and wasn’t even able to get a good job to pay for enough food. He was just dead weight (not that Allen was doing anything to support his arse).

Returning to the present, Lavi managed to lose Allen, who found himself in a empty alleyway. The redhead seemed to be getting the hang of the streets. Then again, Allen got distracted before he was serious about teaching the redhead a thorough lesson.

While Allen had lost his original target, that one guy was back. The one with the stupid blue/purple hair, and was standing next to the costume clad boy. It was just idiotic for the kid to dress up if he was gonna be constantly followed around by such a conspicuous guy. Robbery only works if the thief is unrecognizable.

They were making a mockery of the art of thieving. Not that it was an art, but Allen could personally feel the pain from such a poor attempt. Since it was those two idiots causing the pain, Allen had to get rid of them. The brat would be foolish enough to get caught in even a simple net trap. The man would be spotted normally in the streets and get caught. Fools, the both of them. Allen might as well prevent that from happening and deal with them now. They might even be grateful, since it would mean they’d never get caught by the police.

Climbing up to the roof that they currently resided on -- which was extremely weird seeing as they were easy seen since the moon was shining -- Allen hid himself from view to observe. There was the possibility that they had some sort of trick which allowed them to escape capture despite their appearances. However, neither of them were doing much other than standing, and the brat looked like he was posing for the world to see. Idiot.

Allen jumped out from the shadows and flew at the adult, sending a kick to his head. The guy dodged somehow, even though it looked like Allen’s foot just barely nicked the side of his head. He hid behind the kid, who turned to watch Allen. Even with his head covered, you could smell the fear radiating off of him. If Allen had to guess, his facial expressions were downright bloodthirsty. He growled and went to swipe the feet from under the kid, absentmindedly noting that he seemed a little bit taller than the previous day. The kid fell onto the roof, and then somehow managed to slide off and hit the ground below.

Somehow he was able to stand up with little effort and sprint away from Allen. The other guy who was hiding behind previously started to spring after the brat after sending Allen a wide-eyes look, which Allen returned with a glare.

“Come back here you swamp-donkeys! I ain’t done with you!” Allen shouted as he chased after the two. He knew he was being loud, but no one was gonna stop him. The kid was a fast runner and managed to evade Allen a couple of times, partly because he knew the area even better than Allen did. But Allen wasn’t gonna get lost that easily. Up onto buildings and under stairs, jumping from building to building and sliding down poles, the chase continued with little change. Up until the point where Allen jumped from the top of a building to crash into the running child below him.

The brat started screaming, and some poor bloke decided to look into the darkness and see what was happening. He really should have stayed in bed.

The second he was in sight of the brat, something happened. The brat underneath Allen froze and the guy all of a sudden jumped into action and sprinted away. The colorful guy followed, leaving his friend behind.

Allen decided to rip the mask off of the brat, who wasn’t actually a brat anymore but a young adult, probably around the age of 17. Allen didn’t let himself get caught up in the confusion after seeing so many other weird things, and instead chased after the colorful dude again. Maybe the brat was magical.  
Allen might as well prevent that from happening and deal with them now. They might even be grateful, since it would mean they’d never get caught by the police.

Climbing up to the roof that they currently resided on -- which was extremely weird seeing as they were easy seen since the moon was shining -- Allen hid himself from view to observe. There was the possibility that they had some sort of trick which allowed them to escape capture despite their appearances. However, neither of them were doing much other than standing, and the brat looked like he was posing for the world to see. Idiot.

Allen jumped out from the shadows and flew at the adult, sending a kick to his head. The guy dodged somehow, even though it looked like Allen’s foot just barely nicked the side of his head. He hid behind the kid, who turned to watch Allen. Even with his head covered, you could smell the fear radiating off of him. If Allen had to guess, his facial expressions were downright bloodthirsty. He growled and went to swipe the feet from under the kid, absentmindedly noting that he seemed a little bit taller than the previous day. The kid fell onto the roof, and then somehow managed to slide off and hit the ground below.

Somehow he was able to stand up with little effort and sprint away from Allen. The other guy who was hiding behind previously started to spring after the brat after sending Allen a wide-eyes look, which Allen returned with a glare.

“Come back here you swamp-donkeys! I ain’t done with you!” Allen shouted as he chased after the two. He knew he was being loud, but no one was gonna stop him. The kid was a fast runner and managed to evade Allen a couple of times, partly because he knew the area even better than Allen did. But Allen wasn’t gonna get lost that easily. Up onto buildings and under stairs, jumping from building to building and sliding down poles, the chase continued with little change. Up until the point where Allen jumped from the top of a building to crash into the running child below him.

The brat started screaming, and some poor bloke decided to look into the darkness and see what was happening. He really should have stayed in bed.

The second he was in sight of the brat, something happened. The costumed figure underneath Allen froze and the random guy jumped into action and sprinted away. The colorful guy followed, leaving his friend behind.

Allen decided to rip the mask off of the brat, who wasn’t actually a brat anymore but a young adult, probably around the age of 17. Allen didn’t let himself get caught up in the confusion after seeing so many other weird things, and instead chased after the colorful dude again. Maybe the brat was magical. Wouldn’t be the first group of weird ass people he’s met.

The chase continued until the old guy, who somehow managed to find a costume, spotted a group of police and veered quickly to the left.

He hit the solid form of some tall, sharp-faced guy in black and red. With barely a glance, Allen had an oddly strong desire to cut off the white part of his his hair and bend the ears until they curved like a normal human’s. He held back his desire, though. That was a little odd even for him.

Especially when the grown adult began whimpering like a child at the sight of the costume clad person in front of him.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to bump into you!” He sputtered out, tears gathering in his eyes. The colorful guy started laughing at him, and the weird thing behind him looked extremely angry before hitting him on the head.

Within moments, the guy’s entire personality changed. He went from a massive wimp to some raging badass, and Allen could have sworn the guy’s eyes went black. He decided to ignore that in favor of watching the costumed guy start balling his eyes out with an awful crying sound. He jumped away and started running back towards Allen, who let him run. The exorcist - the stranger was wearing such odd clothing, so he had to be a cult member - flipped back to his wimpy personality the moment the kid was out of sight. After a quickly forming blush appeared, he disappeared as well. Allen made a mental note to ask Lavi about this future obstacle. Might as well make use of the idiot while he was still with them. 

Then he sighed and began the chase once more. It didn’t last long, however. In the process of tracking down the kid, he located Tyki with said brat in his grasp.

“Ah, I knew it was you, brat. Why you chasing this freak? He’s bawling his eyes out ‘cause of you.” Tyki complained, and the eccentric arse standing next to him laughed his ass off, falling to the floor. Allen fixed him with a glare that did nothing. “Oi, what’re ya lookin’ at? I mean, yer normally spacy and all, but this is just weird.”

“It’s that bloody arsehole that doesn't know how ta hide.”

“Brat, there’s no one there. Ya need yer eyes checked or something?” As Tyki said that, the guy in his grasp lost all movement and slumped down to the ground, only to wake up a moment later.

“Huh? Eh? Where am I?” A completely different voice came out that the one that was previously screaming their bloody head off. Allen quickly knocked him out. He was distracting from the form leaving the body with a blue light. Teeth bared, Allen ran after them, jumping onto buildings and over gaps. Tyki began to follow him on the ground with surprising ease for such a stick-like man.

Allen ended up on the roof of some random building separated from the others. The kid he saw previously was resting there while the blue form of him slipped into the body. Allen forced it out of his mind, favoring to deal with that later when he didn’t want to kill anyone.

He lifted the kid’s body up by the hair on his scalp. The brat looked younger than Eeez and even less cared for. There was also some weird bump on his forehead where the bandana had been ripped off when Allen lifted him up.

There was some sort of noise coming from the staircase, so Allen took the boy and ran, just before his wailing started. Allen quickly shut that up by stuffing the bandana into his mouth, but the tears just kept leaking out. The eccentric man was chasing after them, but didn’t have contact with either Allen or the boy. Allen noted the man’s feet did not fully touch the ground as he ‘ran’. 

One crazy thing after another, it would seem. He really hoped the cult didn’t show up around where he was going. Those two crazy guys from before were enough to deal with.

Allen briefly wondered if vampires were real before forcing that thought out of his mind as well. He already saw what could be a ghost, and there were those giant killing machines. One more doesn’t matter, there was no reason to waste brain power over it.

“Hey, Boy, you’re back. What’s with the kid, though? Eeez isn’t enough for you?” Tyki asked around the cigarette in his mouth. Allen thought about smacking it out but fought down the urge. Tyki wasn’t the one currently on his hit list. First it was the kid, then the ghost thing, and after that the cult. Lavi was in there somewhere as well, but Allen didn’t have the time to get the rest of his thoughts straight.

“I saw a vampire, that guy-” Allen pointed to the man floating a few feet away who looked like he was about to cry, “is a ghost that’s following around this brat who has a doofer in his forehead, and the cult is running around somewhere and I’m damn tired of them.” Tyki blinked once, twice, then grinned.

“You’re life is Hell, huh, boy? How’d ya manage all that?” Tyki continued laughing even after a bump formed on his head and blood dripped slowly into his eyes. The kid started wailing again. Allen didn’t know when the brat regained consciousness. 

“Ah, shut yer trap, it’s bloody annoying ta hear yer screamin’. Now, tell me ‘bout this ghost thing ya do. It’s annoyin’ ta deal with.” The brat cowered back, covering the gem with his hands, and Allen yanked him up. A smile Tyki had never seen crossed Allen’s face. The boy looked gentle, despite his aggressive actions and the words that spewed from his mouth.

“Now c’mon kid, I won’t be mean if ya tell me real quick why you can ghost places. As long as you don’t take over one of my people, we’re fine.”

“I-I-I don’t knooooowww!” The boy wailed louder than he had before, and Allen covered his mouth. 

“Dammit! Those cult members are gonna find their way here ‘cause of this brat!” Allen fumed, the angelic face entirely gone and instead replaced by the rage Tyki was so used to. “We gotta get out of here, soon!”

“Let’s head back to the others. Tell ‘em ta pack everythin’ up to head out. It’ll take a bit to get movin’. Brink the boy with us, or they’ll be able ta take him.” Allen paused briefly in his pacing. Tyki could see the ideas forming under the white hair.

Allen’s grin was all teeth. “They’ll be so pissed when they see the brat isn’t in the town anymore. I bet they came ‘ere lookin for ‘im. No way that cult would be fine with me takin’ him away from ‘em. ‘Sides, Eeez could use another brat ta hang ‘round with, no?” Tears formed in the boy’s eyes, but he didn’t activate his body-swap abilities against Allen or Tyki. Allen scared him too much to even try.

“Boy,” Tyki said, directing his words to Allen. “Move yer hand and lemme talk with ‘im.” Allen did as asked and glared the boy in warning. “Well, boy, what’s yer name?”

“Timothy…” 

“Nice ta meet ya Timothy, I’m Tyki Mikk, this is Allen. We travel around the world looking for interesting places and good jobs. Yer gonna be comin’ with us and leavin’ this place behind. Ya look like an orphanage kid, right? Well, so are we, but we’ve grown up a bit. There’s one boy back at our place around yer age. Sorry, but I don’t think ya’ll be able ta say bye to yer orphanage family. We gotta head out right about now, or some annoyin’ people will take ya with them and train ya fer war. I’m pretty sure we’re tha better option, no?” 

The brat’s reaction to Tyki was completely different than what it was to Allen. Instead of blubbering more, that brat calmed down. Allen turned away to hide his scowl, to the amusement of Tyki.

“Great, now let’s head on out ta see Eeez and the others. I’m sure you’ll like ‘em. They might look mean, but those other two are big softies on the inside. One’s even scared o’ ghosts. He admits it, too.” Tyki took the kid by his hand and started walking towards the group. Allen followed close behind, knowing he would easily get lost in the large city. There was still a good chance of that happening even when following Tyki, but Allen just remembered that he wasn’t actually a brat anymore. No way was he taking Tyki’s hand and acting like one again.


End file.
